First Trust Advisors LP Buys 19,539 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,313,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,539 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 3.13% of East West Bancorp worth $459,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in 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. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 44.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total transaction of $1,017,325.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719,698.50. The trade was a 37.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $706,894.36. The trade was a 23.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 119,065 shares of company stock valued at $13,857,314 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $106.32 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $123.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.40. The company has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $753.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 33.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.21.

East West Bancorp Company 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.