Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 192 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 89.7% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 448.9% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total transaction of $4,135,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total value of $1,606,393.23. Following the sale, the insider owned 113,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,098,165.69. This represents a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678 over the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $107.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.41. The firm has a market cap of $14.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.97.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The firm had revenue of $705.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $702.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.64.

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.