Vest Financial LLC Acquires 28,699 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 504,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,699 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $53,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $32,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 82.6% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 127.6% in the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $159,189.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,556 shares in the company, valued at approximately $791,339.88. This represents a 16.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.04, for a total transaction of $1,000,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 45,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,551,820. This trade represents a 18.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 73,344 shares of company stock worth $8,184,226 over the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EWBC. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.38.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $115.21 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $119.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $15.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.69.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $645.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.75 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The company’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.14 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.