Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Makes New $67.69 Million Investment in East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 940,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $67,692,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned approximately 0.67% of East West Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EWBC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in East West Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,243,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $803,502,000 after acquiring an additional 215,281 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of East West Bancorp by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,416,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,635,000 after purchasing an additional 306,473 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of East West Bancorp by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,215,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,370,000 after buying an additional 751,944 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in East West Bancorp by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,713,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,279,000 after buying an additional 886,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in East West Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $115,369,000. Institutional investors own 89.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EWBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on East West Bancorp from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, East West Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.08.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of EWBC stock traded up $0.11 on Friday, hitting $73.79. 578,261 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 798,044. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.88. East West Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $47.39 and a one year high of $79.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.08. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 26.78% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $636.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that East West Bancorp, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. East West Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other East West Bancorp news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,632.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total value of $775,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 127,193 shares in the company, valued at $9,867,632.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jack C. Liu sold 2,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.58, for a total value of $147,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,655.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,625 shares of company stock worth $1,048,508 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.