Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 19.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,107 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,022 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Popular were worth $3,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Popular by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,715,000 after purchasing an additional 17,729 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Popular during the first quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 60.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,647,000 after purchasing an additional 84,327 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the first quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at $252,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $142.00 target price on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total transaction of $114,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,043.36. This trade represents a 27.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,611,992.50. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,360 shares of company stock valued at $3,265,040. 2.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $142.63 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $78.23 and a one year high of $149.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $815.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. Popular had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 18.75%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.51 EPS. Analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.