East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 5.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 385,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,697 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.28% of East West Bancorp worth $28,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $25,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EWBC. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.53.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 4.7 %

NASDAQ EWBC traded up $3.83 on Friday, reaching $84.69. The stock had a trading volume of 470,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 986,457. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.59 and a 1 year high of $89.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.51. The company has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.32.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The business had revenue of $638.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,234,045.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total value of $166,411.92. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,621,111.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,234,045.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,346 shares of company stock worth $1,698,240 in the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.