Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,605 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.08% of East West Bancorp worth $9,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,849,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.7% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 21,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crumly & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.9% during the first quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 9,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $828,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $108.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $15.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. The business had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.02 million. As a group, analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total value of $3,857,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 928,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.04, for a total value of $199,584.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. This represents a 12.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson dropped 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 report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.38.

East West Bancorp Company 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.