East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Bought by Pacific Global Investment Management Co.

Pacific Global Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the quarter. East West Bancorp comprises 3.4% of Pacific Global Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Pacific Global Investment Management Co.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 17,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after buying an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $1,203,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $100,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $527,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on EWBC. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut 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. DA Davidson lowered their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 40,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $89,517,319.02. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 2,100 shares of East West Bancorp 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,411,248.96. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $101.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $91.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.36. 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $693.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $673.02 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 25.73%. On average, analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.64%.

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.