Comerica Bank Sells 72,776 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Comerica Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 28.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 184,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 72,776 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned about 0.13% of East West Bancorp worth $14,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock traded down $3.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $78.93. The stock had a trading volume of 242,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,031,153. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.32. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.59 and a twelve month high of $89.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $75.43 and its 200 day moving average is $74.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The business had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $631.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 127,193 shares in the company, valued at $9,867,632.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total value of $590,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,346 shares of company stock worth $1,834,960. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy 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 $88.60.

East West Bancorp Profile

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other.