East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target Cut to $128.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $141.00 to $128.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on EWBC. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed 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 report on Wednesday, December 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Ten 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.29.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $106.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 1.35 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $112.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.36. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $123.82.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $753.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. Research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp 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 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.61%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,421 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.00, for a total transaction of $169,099.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,612,807. This trade represents a 9.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 60,221 shares of company stock worth $7,139,287. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 9,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 6,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 4.3% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

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.