East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stake Lifted by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,518 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 490.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Compass Point raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.17.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.5 %

EWBC opened at $105.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.03 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.15 and a 200-day moving average of $85.33.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.78%.

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.