Rudolph Estrada Sells 469 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total transaction of $45,980.76. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,740,210. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

East West Bancorp Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of EWBC opened at $97.74 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.27. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.43 and a 52 week high of $101.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On East West Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $338,142,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,480,000 after purchasing an additional 118,658 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 112.5% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,441,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,013,000 after purchasing an additional 762,958 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $59,460,000. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 30.6% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 649,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,578,000 after buying an additional 152,334 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.46.

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.