Morgan Stanley Raises East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $141.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its target price increased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $126.00 to $141.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 26.76% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered East West Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $125.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $121.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.21.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock traded up $1.79 on Monday, hitting $111.24. The stock had a trading volume of 369,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,920. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.11 and a 200 day moving average of $109.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $123.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $753.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.04 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gary Teo sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.59, for a total value of $858,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,252 shares in the company, valued at $643,842.68. This trade represents a 57.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.82, for a total value of $5,891,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 808,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,237,558.42. This trade represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 119,065 shares of company stock valued at $13,857,314. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 82.6% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 115.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company and the parent of East West Bank, one of the largest independent banks headquartered in Southern California. As a full-service commercial bank, it provides a broad range of financial products and services to business and individual customers, including commercial and residential real estate lending, working capital lines of credit, trade finance, and deposit and treasury management services. The company caters to both large and middle-market businesses, leveraging its expertise to serve clients engaged in cross-border trade and investment between the United States and Greater China.

Founded in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, East West Bank has grown steadily through organic expansion and strategic branch openings.