Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 37,424 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,489,936 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,424 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Popular worth $1,057,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Popular in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Popular by 262.9% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in Popular by 117.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 540 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Popular by 84.2% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Popular by 63.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 682 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America raised shares of Popular from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

Popular Stock Down 0.7%

BPOP opened at $149.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.61 and a twelve month high of $152.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $138.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.02.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $822.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,188,200. This represents a 39.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the sale, the director owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at $481,002.75. The trade was a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

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.