East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lessened its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,094,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,141 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.79% of East West Bancorp worth $89,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Tobam lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 131.7% during the third quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $109.85 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.03. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.34 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its 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 net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on EWBC. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.25.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.