Wells Fargo & Company Raises East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $105.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $105.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.46.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $95.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $52.29 and a 12-month high of $98.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 25.40% and a return on equity of 16.64%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.2 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $167,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,382,509.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,343.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $167,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,382,509.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EWBC. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $338,142,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in East West Bancorp by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,480,000 after acquiring an additional 118,658 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 82.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,687,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,502,000 after buying an additional 761,347 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 112.5% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,441,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,013,000 after acquiring an additional 762,958 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $59,460,000. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.