Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys New Shares in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 132,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,734,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.10% of East West Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EWBC. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 234,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,159,000 after acquiring an additional 22,726 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 164,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,071,000 after purchasing an additional 4,916 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 7.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,480,000 after purchasing an additional 118,658 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $599,000. 89.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 469 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.04, for a total value of $45,980.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,750 shares in the company, valued at $1,740,210. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % 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. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock opened at $100.80 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $101.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.09. The stock has a market cap of $13.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.27 and a 12 month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.77.

East West Bancorp 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.