Irene H. Oh Sells 10,000 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) Stock

East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,867,632.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded down $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.44. The stock had a trading volume of 727,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,207,378. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.60 and a 52 week high of $79.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.82.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $644.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 27.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EWBC shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $76.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth $30,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% 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.