180 Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 25.7% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 10.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 234,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,159,000 after buying an additional 22,726 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 164,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,071,000 after acquiring an additional 4,916 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,480,000 after acquiring an additional 118,658 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,334,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $95.61 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.47. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Compass Point increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.77.

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.