GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Tobam lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 131.7% during the third quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EWBC shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Compass Point boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.77.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.5 %

EWBC opened at $96.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $101.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.47. 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 (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 117,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,543,510.50. The trade was a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276. 1.04% of the stock is owned by 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.