East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,915,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 168,029 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.40% of East West Bancorp worth $204,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth $31,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 115.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 44.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total transaction of $3,704,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 707,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,422,275.70. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of East West Bancorp 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 transaction, the director directly owned 13,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,661,152.05. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,311 shares of company stock valued at $6,784,711. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stephens lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.23.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $131.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.94. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $92.67 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $791.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 30.77%.

East West Bancorp 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.