State of Alaska Department of Revenue Decreases Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 822.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. DA Davidson lowered their target price on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.38.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,488,358 over the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $100.23 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.81. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.21 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The stock has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.81%.

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.