East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lessened its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 865 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $287,000. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 13,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,743,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 43,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 8.6 %

EWBC opened at $77.16 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The firm has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company 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 a positive change 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 dividend yield of 3.11%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % 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 in the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.46.

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.