Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Decreases Stock Holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 11.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,064 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $5,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 1.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,882,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $652,223,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,314,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,763,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 2.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,231,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,152,000 after acquiring an additional 96,729 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in East West Bancorp by 7.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,822,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,480,000 after acquiring an additional 118,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 7.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,804,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,287,000 after acquiring an additional 123,376 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total transaction of $985,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,543,510.50. This represents a 7.86 % 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 sold 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC opened at $101.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $99.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.45. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $641.80 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens cut shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on East West Bancorp from $93.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.17.

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.