B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Purchases 26,280 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 61.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 69,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,280 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG owned about 0.05% of East West Bancorp worth $7,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EWBC. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,683,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,807,000 after acquiring an additional 2,968,716 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,819,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $486,650,000 after acquiring an additional 86,171 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,313,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,210,000 after purchasing an additional 19,539 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 39.6% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,241,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,271,000 after purchasing an additional 920,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.5% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,060,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,094,000 after purchasing an additional 186,865 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total transaction of $221,058.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,756 shares in the company, valued at $706,894.36. This trade represents a 23.82% 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, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $1,017,325.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 14,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719,698.50. This represents a 37.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 119,065 shares of company stock valued at $13,857,314. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 3.6%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $106.32 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.90. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.27 and a 12 month high of $123.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.51. 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 posted 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 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 analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.61%.

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.