East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 51.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 47,508 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.6%

EWBC stock opened at $106.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.10. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one year high of $113.95. 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 (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.06% and a return on equity of 15.09%. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.53.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total value of $697,378.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at $1,302,660.45. This trade represents a 34.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,572,270. This trade represents a 6.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,240 shares of company stock worth $7,379,678 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.