Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 99,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $100,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of East West Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 822.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target 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. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

East West Bancorp Trading Down 2.0 %

EWBC opened at $89.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $95.35 and its 200 day moving average is $95.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.78 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. 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 2.69%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at $87,148,260. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company’s 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 owns 14,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,643.21. This trade represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.