Insider Selling: East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) EVP Sells 7,000 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total transaction of $858,130.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,842.68. The trade was a 57.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 3.4%

NASDAQ EWBC traded up $4.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $122.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,140,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,175,671. The company’s fifty day moving average is $113.95 and its 200-day moving average is $107.32. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $123.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $754.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $274,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.8% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 28,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

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.