American Century Companies Inc. Raises Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,726 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.17% of East West Bancorp worth $17,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EWBC. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.0% during the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Doheny Asset Management CA lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 90.0% during the 2nd quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 9,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 4,263 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in East West Bancorp by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.2% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 160,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,763,000 after purchasing an additional 37,286 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 11.8% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 9,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $82.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.59 and a 12-month high of $89.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.89. The company has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.29.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $638.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $631.61 million. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 25.40%. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. Analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EWBC shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on East West Bancorp from $106.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.33.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $302,668.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,392,713.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other East West Bancorp news, EVP Gary Teo sold 3,450 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.73, for a total transaction of $302,668.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,392,713.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa L. Kim sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.68, for a total transaction of $472,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,343.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,346 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,160. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.