Net Worth Advisory Group Acquires New Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 3,342 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Popular by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,636 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 3,804 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC grew its holdings in Popular by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 6,380 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,034,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Popular by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,953 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at $293,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Popular in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.25.

Popular Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $87.42 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.74. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.60 and a 1 year high of $106.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its 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, equities research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. This 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 insiders.

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.