Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes $26,000 Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,456 shares of company stock worth $5,549,969. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $86.23 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $85.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $11.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.35, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09.

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

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson dropped their price target on 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. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.46.

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.