Insider Selling: East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Sells $1,783,710.00 in Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Dominic Ng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 7th, Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81.
• On Friday, March 7th, Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $89.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $12.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.78 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $96.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.01.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,174,000 after buying an additional 632,245 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,269,000 after buying an additional 447,057 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,052,000 after acquiring an additional 437,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,138,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Compass Point upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stephens downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.31.

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.