B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Cuts Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG decreased its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,422 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $4,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,174,000 after buying an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in East West Bancorp by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $228,269,000 after buying an additional 447,057 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,138,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 171.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 384,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,847,000 after acquiring an additional 242,928 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,148,260. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EWBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Compass Point upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.8 %

East West Bancorp stock opened at $89.76 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $95.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.62. 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 firm has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.78 and a 52 week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.81%.

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.