Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 8,190 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,190 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.07% of East West Bancorp worth $9,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 822.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % 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. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Barclays decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $89.07 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.42. The stock has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 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.