3,550 Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Purchased by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,157,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 159.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 18,166 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 830,133.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 24,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 24,904 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in East West Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $852,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,287,000 after acquiring an additional 123,376 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $101.58 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $99.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.45. The stock has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.17.

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.