East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 41,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,671 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 119.1% during 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. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 83.4% during 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 during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 100,181 shares of company stock worth $9,273,894 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $95.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a market capitalization of $13.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.67.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.73% and a return on equity of 15.71%. The company had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. As a group, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $118.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.54.

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.