East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Sells $3,704,700.00 in Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was 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 represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $122.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $112.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.26 and a 12 month high of $127.51.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $773.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $767.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.59% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.57 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on EWBC. DA Davidson raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Piper Sandler raised their target price 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. Barclays cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 35.4% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 9,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 6,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.3% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% 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.