Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by Salzhauer Michael

Salzhauer Michael lowered its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,194 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Popular accounts for 0.6% of Salzhauer Michael’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Salzhauer Michael’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Popular during the fourth quarter worth about $79,842,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Popular by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank’s stock worth $133,446,000 after purchasing an additional 515,798 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,990,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 697,389 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,596,000 after buying an additional 93,262 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 304.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,042,000 after buying an additional 75,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $83.90 on Thursday. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $106.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.55. The stock has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. On average, equities analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % 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, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,418,721.32. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.57.

Popular 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.