American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 58,642 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 379,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 58,642 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.28% of East West Bancorp worth $40,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 82.6% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 179.9% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on EWBC shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group set a $125.00 price target on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 target price for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.21.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC stock opened at $106.32 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.27 and a 12-month high of $123.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $115.54 and a 200-day moving average of $109.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.90.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $753.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.82, for a total transaction of $5,891,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 808,331 shares in the company, valued at $95,237,558.42. This trade represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $706,894.36. This represents a 23.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 119,065 shares of company stock valued at $13,857,314. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.