East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 3,842.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,411 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $274,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $296,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $347,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $244,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total value of $169,099.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,553 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,612,807. This trade represents a 9.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,894.36. This represents a 23.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 120,585 shares of company stock valued at $14,016,504 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $119.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $115.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $123.82.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 28.36%.The company had revenue of $754.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research lowered East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.14.

East West Bancorp Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.