Crumly & Associates Inc. Has $867,000 Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Crumly & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 526 shares during the period. Crumly & Associates Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 3,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in East West Bancorp by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 34,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 178.5% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 5,654 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $986,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $97.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.78 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 fifty day moving average price of $98.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.54.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EWBC. Compass Point upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,654,444. This trade represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.