East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.77.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on 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 upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,639 shares in the company, 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 through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 10.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 234,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,159,000 after purchasing an additional 22,726 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 164,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,071,000 after buying an additional 4,916 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,480,000 after acquiring an additional 118,658 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $717,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $102.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $67.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

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.