Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Purchases Shares of 2,899 East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 152.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,404,000 after acquiring an additional 225,799 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 8.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 6.1% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,097,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,534,339. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of EWBC opened at $102.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $67.27 and a one year high of $113.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $101.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.86.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 26.41%.

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.