Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $356,000 Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 784 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 7.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 9,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 35,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $339,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC opened at $85.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.78 and a one year high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $96.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.67.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid 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 yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 28.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,362 shares of company stock worth $3,842,022 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EWBC. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price target on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group started coverage on East West Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

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.