Asset One Wealth Management LLC Takes $3.39 Million Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Asset One Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 29,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,388,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EWBC. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.9% in the first 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 during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $274,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $290,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 34.3% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 118.7% during the second 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 2.6%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $127.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.94. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.36 and a fifty-two week high of $136.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $122.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.16.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 31.97%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total value of $106,552.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 84,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,280,926.62. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $1,235,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 46,974 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,289. This trade represents a 17.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,311 shares of company stock worth $6,784,711 over the last ninety days. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. Barclays dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

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.