East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on EWBC. UBS Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $97.12 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp has a 52 week low of $68.78 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.54. The firm has a market cap of $13.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.5% during the 4th 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. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 7,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.