East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,684 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of East West Bancorp worth $17,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total value of $472,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,343.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total value of $472,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 1,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.77, for a total value of $166,411.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,621,111.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $91.66 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $81.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $51.14 and a one year high of $92.68.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.61 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. East West Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EWBC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $72.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.77.

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.