East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Archana Deskus Sells 1,800 Shares

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,661,152.05. This trade represents a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.4%

East West Bancorp stock traded up $1.77 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $126.47. The stock had a trading volume of 911,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,123,936. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.90. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.02 and a 12-month high of $127.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $112.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.97%.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,967,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $199,529,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 281.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,607,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,647,000 after buying an additional 1,185,781 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 19.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,464,000 after buying an additional 633,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 61.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,207,000 after buying an additional 542,149 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 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. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.36.

East West Bancorp Company 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.