Popular, Inc. $BPOP Stock Position Boosted by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 64,778 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $175,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Popular in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Popular by 198.3% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 537 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Popular by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 540 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 84.2% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 593 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total value of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870 over the last ninety days. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

Popular Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $148.13 on Thursday. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.56 and a twelve month high of $152.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $145.03 and a 200-day moving average of $134.37. The firm has a market cap of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.