Rudolph Estrada Sells 469 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $97.74. 410,199 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 925,655. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.43 and a twelve month high of $101.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.27.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Covestor Ltd raised its position in East West Bancorp by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.46.

About East West Bancorp

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.