East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on EWBC. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $89.99 on Thursday. East West Bancorp has a 12-month low of $68.78 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.08 and its 200-day moving average is $94.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in East West Bancorp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 40,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,849,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. 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.