Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Makes New $118,000 Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $118,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 15,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $228,269,000 after purchasing an additional 447,057 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 88.6% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 66,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,334,000 after purchasing an additional 31,068 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,178.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $89.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.01. The company has a market capitalization of $12.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.78 and a 52-week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

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.