Jennison Associates LLC Grows Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 123,376 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $149,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $3,832,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 159.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 18,166 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $852,000. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $9,078,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 830,133.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 24,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 24,904 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.4 %

East West Bancorp stock opened at $104.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.34 and a 52-week high of $107.68.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at $11,543,510.50. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,625,276. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EWBC. DA Davidson boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.25.

East West Bancorp 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.