Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) EVP Sells $920,762.00 in Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $150.04 on Thursday. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.51 and a 52-week high of $152.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $139.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.56.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 20.10%.The firm had revenue of $822.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Popular’s payout ratio is 22.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Popular by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 151,499 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,327,000 after buying an additional 14,157 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Popular by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 2,472 shares of the bank’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Popular in the 1st quarter worth approximately $899,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 287.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 172,993 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,603,000 after buying an additional 128,377 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Popular by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 45,852 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,152,000 after buying an additional 8,902 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BPOP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

Popular Company Profile

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.