East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Acquired by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,500 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $17,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $274,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $326,000. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $267,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 12,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.00, for a total transaction of $1,442,905.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 93,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,714,205. This trade represents a 11.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total transaction of $858,130.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,842.68. This trade represents a 57.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 119,065 shares of company stock worth $13,857,314 in the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on EWBC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price objective on East West Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group set a $125.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.14.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 6.1%

Shares of EWBC opened at $109.45 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $123.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.13. The stock has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $753.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.61%.

About East West Bancorp

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.