William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 125,024 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 490,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 125,024 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $46,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $652,223,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,763,000 after purchasing an additional 75,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,438,000 after purchasing an additional 122,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,287,000 after purchasing an additional 123,376 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sold a total of 42,362 shares of company stock worth $3,842,022 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.9 %

East West Bancorp stock opened at $88.79 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on EWBC shares. UBS Group started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stephens lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.