Jacobs Asset Management LLC Purchases 7,500 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Jacobs Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 33.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. East West Bancorp makes up approximately 1.6% of Jacobs Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Jacobs Asset Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $278,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 106.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 58.1% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.5% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $3,832,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $108.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $14.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $95.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $65.35 and a one year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS 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 company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, 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 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company 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.