Virtu Financial LLC Buys Shares of 2,392 East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,223,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,763,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,148,000 after buying an additional 186,887 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,438,000 after buying an additional 122,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,269,000 after acquiring an additional 447,057 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EWBC. Barclays dropped their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Compass Point increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 2.0 %

EWBC stock opened at $89.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $95.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.78 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

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 is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.81%.

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.