Seeds Investor LLC Raises Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Seeds Investor LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 543 shares during the quarter. Seeds Investor LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

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 shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This trade represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $72.16 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $89.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.07.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.46.

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.