Insider Selling: Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) EVP Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Popular Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Popular stock opened at $102.94 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.48. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.60 and a 12 month high of $106.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BPOP. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Popular by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,056,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,475,000 after buying an additional 10,599 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Popular by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,769,000 after acquiring an additional 71,782 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Popular by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 902,931 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $90,537,000 after acquiring an additional 67,620 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in Popular by 3.7% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 629,537 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,124,000 after purchasing an additional 22,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Popular by 18.3% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 548,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,954,000 after purchasing an additional 84,839 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

About Popular

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.