Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Grows Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,552,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,618 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $128,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 21.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,000 after purchasing an additional 7,645 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,513,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,438,000 after acquiring an additional 122,738 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.17.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $101.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.45. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.27 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.78%.

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.