Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 5,408 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,408 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 152.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 374,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,404,000 after buying an additional 225,799 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 8.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.1% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 25,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $2,097,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $102.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.86. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.30.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on EWBC. StockNews.com lowered East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,469 shares of company stock valued at $1,534,339. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.