15,423 Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Purchased by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,733,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $274,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $290,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 34.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 118.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 35,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,568,000 after acquiring an additional 19,178 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total transaction of $3,704,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 707,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,422,275.70. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Archana Deskus sold 1,800 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.55, for a total transaction of $225,990.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,661,152.05. The trade was a 11.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,800 shares of company stock valued at $5,165,690. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $123.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.97. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.97 and a 1-year high of $127.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $116.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.78.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. Piper Sandler raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $133.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.69.

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.