Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,588 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $6,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1,178.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 28,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 272,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.1 %

EWBC stock opened at $89.99 on Monday. 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 50-day moving average of $96.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.10. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.78 and a 12 month high of $113.95. The company has a market cap of $12.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28.

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 issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. DA Davidson reduced 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 report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Company 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.