Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 56,222 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,286,832 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,222 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.02% of Popular worth $873,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Popular by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 326 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Popular by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,953 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Popular by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,709 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Popular by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $984,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. The trade was a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

BPOP opened at $91.52 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.60 and a 52 week high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s 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.