Sapience Investments LLC Trims Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Sapience Investments LLC decreased its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 35.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,837 shares during the quarter. Sapience Investments LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,849,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.4%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $95.50 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $84.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.62. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $13.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.46, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 25.73%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.02 million. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on 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. Morgan Stanley lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total value of $3,857,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 928,314 shares in the company, valued at $89,517,319.02. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 102,281 shares of company stock worth $9,473,478. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.