Popular, Inc. $BPOP Shares Bought by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 54.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 88,593 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,270 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Popular were worth $11,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Popular during the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Popular by 198.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in Popular by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 540 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Popular by 84.2% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BPOP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $168.73.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at $1,671,480.05. The trade was a 35.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870 over the last quarter. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $153.07 on Monday. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.56 and a 52 week high of $153.99. The company has a market capitalization of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $145.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.94.

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

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Popular Profile

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.