East West Bancorp, Inc. $EWBC Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 363,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 274 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.26% of East West Bancorp worth $36,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,971.4% in the first quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $139.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.08.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $101.13 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.27 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.01. The company has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 27.16%.The business had revenue of $627.36 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 14,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,572,270. The trade was a 6.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Teo sold 6,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.47, for a total transaction of $697,378.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,660.45. The trade was a 34.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,240 shares of company stock worth $3,244,478. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp 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.