PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Decreases Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in East West Bancorp by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,370,000 after acquiring an additional 751,944 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 40,757.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,437,000 after buying an additional 103,117 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 17,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after buying an additional 11,208 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 31,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 377,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,138,000 after buying an additional 46,416 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $71.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.59 and a fifty-two week high of $79.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.45. The company has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.06, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 1.33.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 26.78%. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of East West Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,234,045.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.