Belpointe Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,696 East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 2,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 21,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd increased its position 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 during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $99.28 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $105.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.98. The stock has a market cap of $13.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%. Equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,974 shares in the company, valued at $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.38, for a total value of $4,135,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 888,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,833,901.32. The trade was a 4.31% 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 three months. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EWBC. Truist Financial set a $112.00 price objective on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Cowen started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.33.

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