Macquarie Group Ltd. Has $83.53 Million Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Macquarie Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 670,797 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 42,801 shares during the quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. owned 1.01% of Popular worth $83,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Popular by 140.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,737,000 after purchasing an additional 26,354 shares during the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth $29,115,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,620,000 after acquiring an additional 23,584 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Popular by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 187,671 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,369,000 after purchasing an additional 17,148 shares during the period. Finally, Fieldview Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 67.5% during the third quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC now owns 37,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,755,000 after purchasing an additional 15,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BPOP shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research lowered Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 over the last 90 days. 2.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $160.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.62. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.56 and a 1 year high of $161.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.32.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

About Popular

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.