Norges Bank Invests $199.53 Million in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Norges Bank purchased a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,775,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $199,529,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 5,305,257 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,313,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,210,000 after purchasing an additional 19,539 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 19.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,874,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,464,000 after purchasing an additional 633,649 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.9% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,395,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,879,000 after purchasing an additional 334,429 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $319,523,000 after purchasing an additional 27,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Barclays decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $150.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on 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, Piper Sandler raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.69.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $121.95 on Wednesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $127.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $117.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.15. The stock has a market cap of $16.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.94.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.11. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 29.59%.The firm had revenue of $773.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $767.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.49, for a total value of $3,704,700.00. Following the transaction, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 46,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,289. This represents a 17.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 41,800 shares of company stock worth $5,165,690 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp 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.