Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 39,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,775,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,174,000 after acquiring an additional 632,245 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 60,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,772,000 after purchasing an additional 15,279 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 53,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,095,000 after purchasing an additional 12,268 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $335,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $32,138,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $85.03 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average is $96.82 and its 200-day moving average is $94.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.78 and a 1 year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. 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 2.82%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on EWBC. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,362 shares of company stock worth $3,842,022 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company 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.