Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases Shares of 42,133 East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 42,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,439,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $907,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,825,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,523,000 after buying an additional 27,402 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,387,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 8.3% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 264,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,046,000 after buying an additional 20,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,044,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.37, for a total value of $1,323,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 36,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,894,248.38. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 11,211 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.00, for a total transaction of $1,446,219.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,093,742. This represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 23,511 shares of company stock valued at $3,077,741 over the last three months. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Monday, August 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.92.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $128.97 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.57. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.67 and a 52 week high of $137.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $17.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.93.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.02. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 30.45%.The business had revenue of $789.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 30.77%.

East West Bancorp Company Profile

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.