Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,993,902 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 22,214 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.45% of Popular worth $738,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,000. Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Popular by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,178 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of BPOP opened at $85.08 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.00 and a 12 month high of $93.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.62. The company has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.79.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $714.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $706.00 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.67% and a net margin of 11.95%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 36.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BPOP shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Popular from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price objective on Popular from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.89.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other news, EVP Manuel Chinea sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total value of $1,088,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,456,700.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Popular news, EVP Manuel Chinea sold 12,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total value of $1,088,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,086 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,456,700.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total value of $429,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,145,856. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Popular Profile

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.