4,812 Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Bought by North Dakota State Investment Board

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 17,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 152,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in 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 worth $596,967,000 after purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares in the last quarter. JCSD Capital LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. JCSD Capital LLC now owns 40,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,509,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $23,849,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $123.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.26 and a 52-week high of $127.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $115.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.14.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. The firm 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%.The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 31.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating 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 stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $133.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stephens upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,661,152.05. This represents a 11.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.