Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd reduced its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,088 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,711 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Popular were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BPOP. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Popular by 164.8% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BPOP. Barclays dropped their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up previously from $103.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Hovde Group raised their price target on Popular from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Popular from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total transaction of $429,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,320 shares in the company, valued at $4,145,856. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total transaction of $429,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,145,856. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Manuel Chinea sold 12,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total value of $1,088,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,086 shares in the company, valued at $2,456,700.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $93.09. The stock had a trading volume of 400,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 313,686. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $93.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.53.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by ($0.09). Popular had a net margin of 11.95% and a return on equity of 11.67%. The firm had revenue of $714.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $706.00 million. Equities analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.80%.

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.