Popular, Inc. $BPOP Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,400 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.19% of Popular worth $14,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Popular by 6.2% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,875 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,535 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 112.2% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 18,001 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.47, for a total transaction of $2,240,584.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,083,495.31. The trade was a 42.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total value of $114,840.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $299,043.36. This trade represents a 27.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 44,001 shares of company stock worth $5,192,924. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Zacks Research upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Hovde Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Friday, August 29th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $153.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $133.56.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP stock opened at $114.54 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.23 and a 1 year high of $129.32. The firm has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.02.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $720.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $803.95 million. Popular had a return on equity of 13.46% and a net margin of 17.63%.Popular’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Popular Company Profile

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.