New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 13,435 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,435 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.07% of East West Bancorp worth $6,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EWBC. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 65.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,050.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $159,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total transaction of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,321 shares in the company, valued at $797,400.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.9 %

EWBC stock opened at $76.64 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.38. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.12 and a fifty-two week high of $79.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Compass Point upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.08.

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.