Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $202,000 Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 40,757.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,437,000 after buying an additional 103,117 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 31,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in East West Bancorp by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 48,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,560,000 after purchasing an additional 23,361 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $803,502,000 after acquiring an additional 215,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trillium Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 279,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,715,000 after acquiring an additional 30,466 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 price target for the company. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,625 shares of company stock valued at $1,048,508. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $77.44 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.60 and a twelve month high of $79.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.01.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.71%.

East West Bancorp Company 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 in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.