Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Purchased by Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 594.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,595 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 4,789 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Popular were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Popular by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its stake in Popular by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 19,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in Popular in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Popular by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $208,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Popular in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Popular in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Popular has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,017,666.90. The trade was a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Trading Up 2.0 %

BPOP stock opened at $103.53 on Wednesday. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.60 and a 1 year high of $106.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.50. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.82.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. 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.