Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,669 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.05% of East West Bancorp worth $6,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in 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 valued at $5,282,000 after buying an additional 28,549 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,174,000 after buying an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 18.2% during 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 buying an additional 15,475 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased 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 valued at $72,352,000 after acquiring an additional 68,528 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of East West Bancorp stock opened at $89.76 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.62. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.78 and a 12-month high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.81%.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,783,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 968,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company’s 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 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.31.

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.