Blair William & Co. IL Has $316,000 Stock Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Blair William & Co. IL cut its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 346 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in East West Bancorp by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 398,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,132,000 after buying an additional 46,417 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,511,000 after acquiring an additional 70,503 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 45,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 13,251 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,691,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 259,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,824,000 after purchasing an additional 18,756 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total value of $75,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,654,444. This trade represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 19,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 968,314 shares in the company, valued at $87,148,260. This represents a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,181 shares of company stock valued at $5,625,732. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $74.04 on Friday. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.78 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $93.50 and its 200-day moving average is $95.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28.

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 given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.