Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 30.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,061 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 104,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,963,000 after purchasing an additional 24,243 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 115,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,894,000 after purchasing an additional 36,554 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 224,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,503,000 after purchasing an additional 50,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 416.8% during the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 24,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 19,589 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. Stephens cut shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,444. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $98.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.78 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $98.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

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.