East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Purchased by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,792 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted 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 lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 108.5% in the fourth 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 boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $9,699,000 after purchasing an additional 15,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 755,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,352,000 after purchasing an additional 68,528 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EWBC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point increased their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $72.32 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.61. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.78 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

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.