Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 16,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 4,271 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,317,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $102.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.93. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $104.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.66.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $627.36 million during the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 27.16%. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on EWBC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. Cowen initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $124.00 price objective for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.14.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $4,135,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 888,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,833,901.32. This represents a 4.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. This represents a 34.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,240 shares of company stock valued at $7,379,678 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.