Jefferies Financial Group Trims East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Target Price to $85.00

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) had its price target cut by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $94.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.12% from the company’s previous close.

EWBC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stephens upped their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on East West Bancorp from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Truist Financial reduced 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of East West Bancorp from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.77.

East West Bancorp Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EWBC traded down $0.69 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.20. 139,907 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,048,582. East West Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $49.59 and a fifty-two week high of $79.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.56.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $644.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $636.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that East West Bancorp will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at East West Bancorp

In related news, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.58, for a total transaction of $775,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 accessible through this link. In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas Paul Krause sold 8,000 shares of East West Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $590,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,234,045.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Irene H. Oh sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 127,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,867,632.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of East West Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EWBC. M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in East West Bancorp by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,968,000 after buying an additional 2,053 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of East West Bancorp by 106.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of East West Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $278,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 6,562.5% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 2,625 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in East West Bancorp by 55.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 99,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,859,000 after purchasing an additional 35,453 shares during the period. 89.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.