East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Bought by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,592 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 7,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on EWBC. Compass Point raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $106.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.39 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.29.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 EPS for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total value of $147,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at $1,049,537.35. The trade was a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 over the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.