Moran Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 362,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,188 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $19,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Carlson Capital L P purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $9,674,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 257.0% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 48,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 34,983 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $658,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 70.1% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,311,000 after purchasing an additional 25,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 131.0% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 392,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,716,000 after acquiring an additional 222,474 shares during the last quarter. 87.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Wedbush raised East West Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $57.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.22.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 2,411 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total value of $134,919.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,037,946.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $62.38. The stock had a trading volume of 935,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,920. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.82. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.86 and a 12-month high of $80.98. The stock has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.41.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 33.62%. The firm had revenue of $648.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.22 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 1st were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 31st. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

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. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other. It accepts various deposit products, such as personal and business checking and savings accounts, money market, and time deposits.