East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 58,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,809 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $7,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,744,958,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 84,090.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,311,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,967,000 after buying an additional 5,305,257 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $199,529,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $221,652,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 281.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,607,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $180,647,000 after buying an additional 1,185,781 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.19, for a total transaction of $106,552.00. Following the sale, the insider directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack Liu sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.02, for a total transaction of $135,020.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,850,989.18. This represents a 6.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 23,511 shares of company stock valued at $3,077,741 in the last 90 days. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $129.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $92.67 and a 52-week high of $137.47.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.47 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.15.

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.