East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $90.75, but opened at $93.24. East West Bancorp shares last traded at $81.81, with a volume of 260,582 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on EWBC shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.65.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 in the last quarter. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 119.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in East West Bancorp by 83.4% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

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.