Venturi Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 73.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 175 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $40,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 17,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,781 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 40,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,852,000 after buying an additional 4,863 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 1,740 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 104,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,963,000 after buying an additional 24,243 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total value of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,643.21. This represents a 8.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EWBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens cut East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on East West Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.38.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $93.36 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.78 and a 1 year high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.81%.

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.