East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $120.00. The stock had previously closed at $103.50, but opened at $100.51. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. East West Bancorp shares last traded at $101.80, with a volume of 329,373 shares.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.23.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total transaction of $985,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,543,510.50. This trade represents a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 over the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Tobam lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 131.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $79,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.30.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Company 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.