Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $9.61 Million Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 80.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,587 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 289,388 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Popular were worth $9,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY bought a new stake in Popular in the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 3.9% during the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,706 shares of the bank’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 74,594 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,331,000 after purchasing an additional 18,721 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,991,000 after buying an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at $274,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Popular from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $171.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at $5,188,200. This trade represents a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $165.79 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $152.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.77. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.74 and a 1 year high of $169.14.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Popular’s 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.