East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Purchased by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 205,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,622 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $21,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $1,530,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,967,000 after buying an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,044,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,523,000 after buying an additional 27,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 8.3% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 264,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,046,000 after buying an additional 20,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $137.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $142.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.23.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $131.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $92.67 and a 1 year high of $136.24.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The business had revenue of $791.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 30.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total value of $1,446,219.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 85,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,093,742. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 707,930 shares in the company, valued at $87,422,275.70. The trade was a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 52,511 shares of company stock worth $6,558,721 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

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.