Insider Selling: Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) VP Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock traded up $2.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $114.86. 146,191 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 561,036. The stock has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.72. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.23 and a 12-month high of $129.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.93.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.10. Popular had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.46%. The business had revenue of $720.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $803.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Popular during the second quarter worth about $93,578,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Popular by 2,752.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,684,000 after buying an additional 301,494 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Popular by 18.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $225,990,000 after buying an additional 283,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Popular by 9,769.4% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,586,000 after acquiring an additional 265,728 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BPOP. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $153.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Hovde Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.56.

Popular Company 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.