Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Grows Stock Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,307 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,197 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.13% of Popular worth $10,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Popular by 11.0% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 3,493 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at about $645,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 63.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,398 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,060,000 after acquiring an additional 12,603 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Popular by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,990,000 after purchasing an additional 283,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,973 shares of the bank’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, Director Richard L. Carrion sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.50, for a total transaction of $2,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 193,020 shares in the company, valued at $21,907,770. This represents a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total transaction of $114,840.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,604 shares in the company, valued at $299,043.36. This represents a 27.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BPOP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.00.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $121.97 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $121.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.10. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $78.23 and a one year high of $131.10. The firm has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $720.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $803.95 million. Popular had a net margin of 17.63% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

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.