Sei Investments Co. Cuts Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Sei Investments Co. lessened its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 140,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,641 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.10% of East West Bancorp worth $13,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,223,000 after acquiring an additional 136,528 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,763,000 after purchasing an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,148,000 after purchasing an additional 186,887 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,438,000 after purchasing an additional 122,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 2.0 %

East West Bancorp stock opened at $89.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $95.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.78 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

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.