Summit Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Summit Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 669 shares during the quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in East West Bancorp were worth $2,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,197,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,359,511,000 after purchasing an additional 70,503 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,990,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $765,167,000 after buying an additional 107,665 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,418,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,148,000 after buying an additional 186,887 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,052,000 after acquiring an additional 437,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,831,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $272,652,000 after acquiring an additional 183,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on EWBC. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of East West Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of East West Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, East West Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.46.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

East West Bancorp stock opened at $74.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.93, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.09. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $68.27 and a one 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.11.

East West Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is a positive change from East West Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dominic Ng sold 20,181 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,816,491.81. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.50, for a total transaction of $75,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,832 shares in the company, valued at $1,654,444. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,181 shares of company stock worth $5,625,732 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

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.