East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Holdings Cut by Palouse Capital Management Inc.

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,096 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $1,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Denali Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 65.1% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1,050.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $106.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.15.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,625 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.26, for a total value of $125,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $797,400.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total transaction of $147,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,739 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.91% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded up $1.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $72.88. 1,719,132 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,218,754. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.55. The firm has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.12 and a 1-year high of $79.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $654.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.91 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 29.11% and a return on equity of 18.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.37 EPS. Analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.89%.

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.