East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Holdings Increased by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 366,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,507 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $35,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in East West Bancorp by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 520,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,079,000 after buying an additional 148,530 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,223,000 after acquiring an additional 136,528 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,734,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,287,000 after acquiring an additional 123,376 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,438,000 after purchasing an additional 122,738 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,488,358 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $100.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.21 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.62.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.41%.

East West Bancorp 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.