MetLife Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 71,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,624 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $5,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 7,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,537.35. This trade represents a 12.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $109.68 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $61.87 and a one year high of $113.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $95.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.25.

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.