Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock Price

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Barclays from $125.00 to $120.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.76% from the company’s previous close.

EWBC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.23.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $101.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $67.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.73.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total transaction of $985,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at $11,543,510.50. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Tobam boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 131.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $79,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About East West Bancorp

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.