Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Buys 4,409 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 3.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 136,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,409 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $13,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 5,654 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 48.5% in the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.33.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $98.32 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.61. The company has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%.The firm had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total value of $1,606,393.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 113,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,098,165.69. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $4,135,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678. 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.