Investment House LLC Makes New $215,000 Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Investment House LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EWBC. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 108.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 28,549 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,174,000 after purchasing an additional 632,245 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $4,157,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 100,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,699,000 after purchasing an additional 15,475 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,022 over the last ninety days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $90.36 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.25 and a 200 day moving average of $94.92. 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 company has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.78 and a 12-month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

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.