Prudential PLC Boosts Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,792 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,174,000 after acquiring an additional 632,245 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,269,000 after purchasing an additional 447,057 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $32,138,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 171.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 384,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,847,000 after purchasing an additional 242,928 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, 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 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.15.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,148,260. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 2.3 %

EWBC stock opened at $72.32 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.78 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $92.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.61.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.81%.

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.