East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Insider Irene H. Oh Sells 10,000 Shares

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $77.44 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.60 and a 52 week high of $79.54. The company has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.01.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 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 Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 197.8% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 10,535 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.7% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $897,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 123,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.1% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 114,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,089,000 after purchasing an additional 5,565 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.