Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC cut its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 37.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,378 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,636 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BPOP. TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Popular by 15.2% during the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 94,815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,507,000 after buying an additional 12,494 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Popular by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,769,000 after acquiring an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Popular by 83.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 4,354 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Popular by 1,719.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,553,000 after purchasing an additional 35,699 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,017,666.90. The trade was a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction 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 $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Trading Down 9.7 %

BPOP opened at $84.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.60 and a twelve month high of $106.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.76.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on BPOP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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 boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.00.

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.