East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Sells $1,783,710.00 in Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at $87,148,260. This trade represents a 2.01 % 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 link.

Dominic Ng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 7th, Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81.
• On Friday, March 7th, Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $89.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $96.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.88. 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 has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,849,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on EWBC. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

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.