East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,729 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 3.05% of East West Bancorp worth $350,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 362.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 490.1% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $110.08 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $60.34 and a one year high of $110.31. The company has a market cap of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.27.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Molly Campbell sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.65, for a total transaction of $147,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,049,537.35. This trade represents a 12.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,969 shares of company stock worth $2,458,276 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.