Lisa L. Kim Sells 2,100 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total transaction of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $95.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $84.86 and its 200-day moving average is $94.62. 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 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. Sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 28.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on EWBC. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler cut 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 report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.54.

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.