East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $97.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $98.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp has a 1 year low of $68.78 and a 1 year high of $113.95.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,511,000 after buying an additional 70,503 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,990,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $765,167,000 after acquiring an additional 107,665 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,763,000 after acquiring an additional 75,024 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,148,000 after purchasing an additional 186,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,052,000 after purchasing an additional 437,676 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.