East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Jack C. Liu Sells 725 Shares

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $103.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.30. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.70.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on EWBC. Stephens cut shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Truist Financial boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 299,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,687,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 152.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,404,000 after acquiring an additional 225,799 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 3.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.