Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,690 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,694 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Popular were worth $2,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at $90,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 94.6% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 69,907 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,737,000 after acquiring an additional 33,978 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. AIA Group Ltd raised its position in shares of Popular by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 13,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Popular by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 228,832 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,780,000 after purchasing an additional 5,581 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,260,092.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Popular news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total transaction of $51,304.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,272,208.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total value of $391,793.22. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,260,092.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target (up from $103.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Hovde Group lifted their target price on Popular from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.89.

Popular Trading Down 0.4 %

Popular stock opened at $86.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $84.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.42. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.32 and a twelve month high of $89.70.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.80%.

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.