Morgan Stanley Lowers East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Price Target to $118.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target decreased by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $127.00 to $118.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 38.40% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note 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 company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

East West Bancorp stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $85.26. The stock had a trading volume of 285,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 958,272. East West Bancorp has a 1-year low of $68.78 and a 1-year high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other East West Bancorp news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 42,362 shares of company stock valued at $3,842,022 over the last 90 days. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $166,590,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 1,667.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 670,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,174,000 after purchasing an additional 632,245 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,383,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $228,269,000 after buying an additional 447,057 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,052,000 after buying an additional 437,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $32,138,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.