East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng Sells 19,819 Shares

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Dominic Ng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 7th, Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81.
• On Friday, March 7th, Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

EWBC traded down $0.47 during trading on Thursday, reaching $89.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,085,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 832,658. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.78 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $96.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.92. The company has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,511,000 after acquiring an additional 70,503 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,990,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $765,167,000 after acquiring an additional 107,665 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,763,000 after acquiring an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,148,000 after acquiring an additional 186,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,052,000 after acquiring an additional 437,676 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.