East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.23.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.6 %

EWBC stock traded down $0.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $102.93. The company had a trading volume of 2,181,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 966,914. East West Bancorp has a 52-week low of $67.27 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Tobam lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 131.7% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $79,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.