Vestcor Inc Has $387,000 Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Vestcor Inc reduced its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 64.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,341 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 108.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 28,549 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,174,000 after acquiring an additional 632,245 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,157,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 830,133.3% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 24,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 24,904 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $88.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.78 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $96.50 and its 200-day moving average is $94.92.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,022. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Company 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.