East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stake Lessened by AM Squared Ltd

AM Squared Ltd lessened its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 36.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. AM Squared Ltd’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.2% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 8,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 69,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,590,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the first quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.2% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.11% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $54.15 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of 6.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.45. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.86 and a 52 week high of $80.98.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.20. The firm had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $660.49 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 20.86% and a net margin of 37.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 21.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EWBC. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, 92 Resources reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 2,411 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total transaction of $134,919.56. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,037,946.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other. It accepts various deposit products, such as personal and business checking and savings accounts, money market, and time deposits.