Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Cuts Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lessened its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 632,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,760 shares during the quarter. East West Bancorp comprises approximately 2.0% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $60,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,223,000 after buying an additional 136,528 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,763,000 after acquiring an additional 75,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,152,000 after acquiring an additional 96,729 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,438,000 after purchasing an additional 122,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,287,000 after purchasing an additional 123,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 1.8 %

East West Bancorp stock opened at $100.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.74. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.21 and a 12 month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,488,358 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EWBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stephens lowered East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Company 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.