ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBCFree Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 932 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $20,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EWBC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Tobam increased its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 131.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at East West Bancorp

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total value of $985,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 117,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,543,510.50. This trade represents a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total value of $1,279,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of EWBC opened at $100.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.42. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.27 and a twelve month high of $113.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on EWBC. DA Davidson raised their price target on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.77.

Get Our Latest Analysis on EWBC

About East West Bancorp

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC)

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