Insider Selling: East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Sells 35,023 Shares of Company Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng sold 35,023 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.57, for a total value of $4,572,953.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 637,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,294,520.10. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Dominic Ng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 9th, Dominic Ng sold 34,977 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.12, for a total value of $4,621,161.24.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $131.21. 737,669 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 951,274. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $98.72 and a 12 month high of $137.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.71. The stock has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.99.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $822.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $811.07 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 30.75% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.74 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $153.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $164.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.71.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. New World Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $283,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 112.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 29,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,616,000 after buying an additional 15,471 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 12,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,611,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 265,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,355,000 after buying an additional 2,304 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for East West Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Pasadena, California. Founded in 1973, the bank initially served Chinese American communities in Southern California and has since expanded its services and geographic reach. East West Bank provides personal and business banking, commercial lending, trade finance, treasury management and other financial services. Its customers include individuals, small and midsize businesses, and larger companies, with a focus on supporting commerce between the United States and Asia.