Bayforest Capital Ltd Has $35,000 Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 127.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% during the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 15,051 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.73, for a total value of $1,606,393.23. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 113,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,098,165.69. The trade was a 11.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total value of $697,378.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at $1,302,660.45. The trade was a 34.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 70,240 shares of company stock valued at $7,379,678. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. DA Davidson raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.33.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.8%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $95.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $105.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $627.36 million for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.09% and a net margin of 26.06%. Equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.04%.

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.