East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Acquired by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 156.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,125 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 82.6% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 127.6% in the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $38,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.3%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $114.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $112.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.01. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $119.73. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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 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 company had revenue of $754.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $745.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase 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 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 25.21%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $159,189.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $791,339.88. This trade represents a 16.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.03, for a total value of $1,017,325.32. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719,698.50. This represents a 37.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 72,364 shares of company stock valued at $8,085,227 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EWBC. Piper Sandler upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 target price on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.21.

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.