Eduardo J. Negron Sells 10,000 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $102.94. 383,117 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 482,086. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.81. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.60 and a 52 week high of $106.46. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.39.

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

Popular Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. TCW Group Inc. raised its stake in Popular by 15.2% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Popular by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,769,000 after buying an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Popular by 284.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,403 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,260,000 after buying an additional 53,590 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Popular by 83.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the bank’s stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 4,354 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Popular by 279.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 38,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,890,000 after buying an additional 28,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.25.

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.