Keeler Thomas Management LLC Sells 1,700 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Keeler Thomas Management LLC reduced its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. Keeler Thomas Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 39.9% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 520,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,079,000 after purchasing an additional 148,530 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $652,223,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $12,734,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,287,000 after buying an additional 123,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,438,000 after buying an additional 122,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EWBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. DA Davidson dropped their target price 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. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $93.42 on Tuesday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.78 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a market capitalization of $12.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $98.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

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.