Sanctuary Advisors LLC Lowers Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC decreased its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 497 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 40,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,852,000 after acquiring an additional 4,863 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 54.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 1,740 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 104,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,963,000 after buying an additional 24,243 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 115,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,894,000 after buying an additional 36,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $93.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $13.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.77. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stephens downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.38.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.