East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on EWBC. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EWBC opened at $90.87 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.24. 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 has a 52 week low of $68.78 and a 52 week high of $113.95. The firm has a market cap of $12.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total transaction of $1,783,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at $87,148,260. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 922.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 44,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 40,267 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 3,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $562,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 486,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,618,000 after buying an additional 51,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Company 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.