Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 9,064 Shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its holdings in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 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 period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.05% of East West Bancorp worth $5,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of East West Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in East West Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in East West Bancorp by 362.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 490.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on EWBC. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of East West Bancorp from $96.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised East West Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.17.

Insider Activity at East West Bancorp

In other news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.50, for a total transaction of $985,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 117,193 shares in the company, valued at $11,543,510.50. This represents a 7.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 45,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,840,413.83. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,969 shares of company stock valued at $2,458,276 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

East West Bancorp Price Performance

EWBC opened at $101.58 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.45. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.27 and a 12-month high of $113.95.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $641.80 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Research analysts predict that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

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.