Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 37.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,756 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,669 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Popular during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Popular during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the third quarter worth $81,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the fourth quarter valued at $166,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. The trade was a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $90.11 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.49. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.60 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. As a group, research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.71%.

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.