Dominic Ng Sells 50,000 Shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.82, for a total transaction of $5,891,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Dominic Ng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, December 12th, Dominic Ng sold 30,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total value of $3,408,900.00.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $118.46 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $119.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $113.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.32.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. On average, 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. Zacks Research lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial set a $121.00 price target on East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 880.7% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 19,420 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in East West Bancorp by 145.5% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 163,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,381,000 after buying an additional 96,760 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 249.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 13,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 9,363 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,029,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 90.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 311,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,428,000 after acquiring an additional 147,792 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.