New York Life Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 12,344 East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,387,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 115.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 44.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total transaction of $3,704,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,422,275.70. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total value of $225,990.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,661,152.05. This trade represents a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on EWBC. Stephens lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $133.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.36.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.1%

EWBC stock opened at $120.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $114.37 and a 200-day moving average of $112.83. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.26 and a fifty-two week high of $127.51.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.97%.

East West Bancorp Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.