East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Holdings Boosted by Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 220.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 145.5% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 163,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,381,000 after purchasing an additional 96,760 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,505,000 after buying an additional 4,344 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 156.5% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 37,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,035,000 after buying an additional 23,125 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 90.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 311,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,428,000 after acquiring an additional 147,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 3,842.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 14,411 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research lowered East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. UBS Group set a $125.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $121.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.14.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $116.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $116.19 and its 200-day moving average is $109.06. The company has a market cap of $16.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $123.82.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.The firm had revenue of $754.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total value of $858,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,842.68. This trade represents a 57.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.82, for a total value of $5,891,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 808,331 shares in the company, valued at $95,237,558.42. This represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 119,065 shares of company stock worth $13,857,314. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.