Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 80.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,735 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 11,927 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $2,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Popular in the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $166,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Popular by 1,719.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,553,000 after buying an additional 35,699 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the bank’s stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,227,000 after buying an additional 4,044 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BPOP shares. StockNews.com upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Popular Stock Down 0.3 %

BPOP opened at $103.37 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.60 and a 52 week high of $106.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.56. The firm has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is 32.71%.

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.