Capital International Investors Has $972.09 Million Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Capital International Investors lowered its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,647,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 141,651 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned approximately 0.06% of East West Bancorp worth $972,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 35.4% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in East West Bancorp by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 6,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in East West Bancorp by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 46,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,231 shares in the company, valued at $1,661,152.05. This represents a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,800 shares of company stock valued at $5,165,690. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $125.94 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $119.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.94. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.79 and a 52 week high of $127.51.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.97%.

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.