Insider Selling: East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Sells 40,000 Shares of Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.43, for a total transaction of $3,857,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 928,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Dominic Ng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 19th, Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00.
• On Friday, March 7th, Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81.
• On Friday, March 7th, Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.4%

EWBC opened at $96.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.90. 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’s 50 day moving average is $84.29 and its 200-day moving average is $94.66. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $693.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.02 million. Equities research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 89.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on EWBC. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial began coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.