Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 4,162 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,162 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $3,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 136,528 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $439,763,000 after acquiring an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,148,000 after acquiring an additional 186,887 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 4.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,608,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,438,000 after acquiring an additional 122,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 447,057 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group began coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Compass Point increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

Insider Activity

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732 over the last ninety days. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $93.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.78 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $96.03 and a 200 day moving average of $95.19.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

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.