Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys New Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 18,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,762,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EWBC. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EWBC. Morgan Stanley lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on 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 decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.54.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.4%

EWBC opened at $95.50 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.59. The stock has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95. 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 (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.71% and a net margin of 25.73%. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.64%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,248.96. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 102,281 shares of company stock worth $9,473,478 in the last ninety days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.