Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $3.37 Million Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,812 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,198 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $3,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 326 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Popular in the 3rd quarter worth $81,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Popular in the 4th quarter worth $166,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value 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 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $91.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.15. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.60 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. As a group, analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.