Boston Partners Purchases 447,057 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Boston Partners increased its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 447,057 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned about 1.72% of East West Bancorp worth $228,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EWBC. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake 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 worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,362 shares of company stock worth $3,842,022 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $88.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.95. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.78 and a one year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Stephens cut shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

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.