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

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

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Stephens downgraded East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 0.2 %

EWBC traded down $0.17 during trading on Thursday, reaching $85.26. 285,453 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 958,272. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp has a one year low of $68.78 and a one year high of $113.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $97.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of East West Bancorp 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,362 shares of company stock worth $3,842,022 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 7.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 23.4% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 9,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 1,865 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in East West Bancorp by 5.6% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 35,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $339,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.