Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $100,000 in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 99,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $100,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 108.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 54,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 28,549 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 100,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,699,000 after acquiring an additional 15,475 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 755,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,352,000 after purchasing an additional 68,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,015,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $89.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, 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 current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EWBC shares. Stephens lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company 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.