Douglas Paul Krause Sells 10,000 Shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total value of $1,000,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 45,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,551,820. This represents a 18.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $100.69 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.85. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 27.16%.The company had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EWBC. DA Davidson upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. TD Cowen began coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $139.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut East West Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 99.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $963,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 221.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 329,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,118,000 after buying an additional 18,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 129,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,775,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.