Erste Asset Management GmbH Has $4.99 Million Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,862 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $199,529,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,464,000 after buying an additional 633,649 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,207,000 after buying an additional 542,149 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,051,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $207,146,000 after buying an additional 391,059 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 several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.69.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $128.66 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $90.79 and a one year high of $130.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $119.91 and its 200 day moving average is $115.10. The firm has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its 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 return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The company had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’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 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.97%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was 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 $87,422,275.70. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 46,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,289. The trade was a 17.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 41,800 shares of company stock worth $5,165,690 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company 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.