East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $79.21, but opened at $88.00. East West Bancorp shares last traded at $90.08, with a volume of 544,540 shares trading hands.

The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.46.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,148,260. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,687,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,849,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 6.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $85.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.76.

About East West Bancorp

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.