Atria Investments Inc Sells 2,925 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Atria Investments Inc trimmed its stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 43.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,925 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $3,832,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 159.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 18,166 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in East West Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $852,000. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,078,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in East West Bancorp by 55.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 99,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,859,000 after acquiring an additional 35,453 shares in the last quarter. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on EWBC. StockNews.com upgraded East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on East West Bancorp from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $91.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.25.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $110.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.80 and a 200 day moving average of $82.27. The company has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.34 and a 1 year high of $110.31.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $1,279,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,740,210. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.