Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 459 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EWBC. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,178.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $979,000 after acquiring an additional 9,425 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 28,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 272,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EWBC. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on 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. UBS Group began coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.31.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $89.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80, 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.78 and a 52-week high of $113.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.10.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. 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. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.81%.

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.