East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 365,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,889 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.27% of East West Bancorp worth $38,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 66.9% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 179.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 62.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 14,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,468,000 after acquiring an additional 5,576 shares during the period. Finally, JCSD Capital LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,506,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 3.6%

East West Bancorp stock opened at $106.32 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.45. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.27 and a 52 week high of $123.82. The stock has a market cap of $14.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company had revenue of $753.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $745.04 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 33.61%.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,800 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.81, for a total value of $221,058.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,894.36. The trade was a 23.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 7,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.90, for a total value of $848,896.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 85,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,762,824.60. This trade represents a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 119,065 shares of company stock valued at $13,857,314 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on EWBC. TD Cowen decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.21.

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.