East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Acquired by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 40,757.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 103,117 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.07% of East West Bancorp worth $7,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 31,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 92.7% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 48,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,560,000 after purchasing an additional 23,361 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $803,502,000 after purchasing an additional 215,281 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 12.2% during the third quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 279,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,715,000 after purchasing an additional 30,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 8.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 676,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,664,000 after purchasing an additional 50,799 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $71.56 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.29 and a 200-day moving average of $67.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.12 and a 12 month high of $79.54. The company has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.39.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.11% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The company had revenue of $654.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.37 earnings per share. East West Bancorp’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 26.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Compass Point increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.15.

East West Bancorp Profile

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.