Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases 25,222 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,908,406 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,222 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 2.74% of Popular worth $179,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Popular by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 9,854 shares of the bank’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. X Square Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 135.4% in the 4th quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 37,820 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,557,000 after buying an additional 21,753 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter worth about $79,842,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Popular by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 45,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,300,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,286,832 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $873,519,000 after acquiring an additional 56,222 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ BPOP opened at $93.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.60 and a 12 month high of $106.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $97.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.85.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Popular

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.