Raymond James & Associates Has $2.51 Million Stock Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,556 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Popular were worth $2,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Popular by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,420 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Popular by 68.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,096 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Popular by 51.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,121 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Popular by 65.8% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,021 shares of the bank’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $82.36 on Tuesday. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.32 and a 52 week high of $89.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.51 and its 200 day moving average is $77.89.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.89. Popular had a return on equity of 12.63% and a net margin of 13.86%. The company had revenue of $702.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $699.76 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BPOP. Citigroup increased their price target on Popular from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Popular from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Popular from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total value of $51,304.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,529 shares in the company, valued at $2,272,208.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total transaction of $51,304.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,529 shares in the company, valued at $2,272,208.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,260,092.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.