East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Holdings Trimmed by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. cut its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,679 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 38.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,683,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,807,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968,716 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $174,431,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.6% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,241,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,271,000 after acquiring an additional 920,159 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 448.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 840,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,861,000 after acquiring an additional 687,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 61.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,207,000 after acquiring an additional 542,149 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, COO Parker Shi sold 8,844 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 14,950 shares in the company, valued at $1,719,698.50. The trade was a 37.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total value of $858,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,252 shares in the company, valued at $643,842.68. This represents a 57.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 120,585 shares of company stock valued at $14,016,504. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $119.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.26. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.27 and a 52-week high of $123.82.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $754.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. 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 given a dividend of $0.80 per share. 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 2.7%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 33.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. TD Cowen decreased their price target on 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. 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $133.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.14.

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.