William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $46.96 Million Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 490,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 125,024 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.35% of East West Bancorp worth $46,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 119.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 83.4% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC stock opened at $88.79 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.92. The stock has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.28. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.78 and a 1 year high of $113.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. This is a boost from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jack C. Liu sold 1,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.53, for a total transaction of $133,275.75. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,941,851.33. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,362 shares of company stock worth $3,842,022 in the last three months. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on EWBC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of 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, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $127.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.31.

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.