Douglas Paul Krause Sells 10,000 Shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total transaction of $1,235,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,289. The trade was a 17.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $123.05 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.97 and a 52 week high of $127.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $116.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The firm had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 31.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 66.9% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 34.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 118.7% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,568,000 after acquiring an additional 19,178 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

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.