East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Position Reduced by Ruffer LLP

Ruffer LLP lowered its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on EWBC shares. Barclays cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.4 %

EWBC stock opened at $89.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.69. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.81%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,022. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.