Popular, Inc. $BPOP Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 3.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 213,721 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,062 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Popular were worth $27,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Popular in the second quarter valued at about $93,578,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 32.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $209,115,000 after purchasing an additional 464,820 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Popular by 18.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,990,000 after buying an additional 283,000 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Popular by 9,769.4% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,586,000 after buying an additional 265,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Popular by 34.3% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,968 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,290,000 after buying an additional 244,108 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Popular

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total transaction of $312,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 57,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,611,992.50. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $204,373.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at $481,002.75. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $130.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.61. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $78.23 and a one year high of $149.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.43.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a return on equity of 13.70% and a net margin of 18.75%.The firm had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 18th. Popular’s payout ratio is 24.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BPOP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $142.00 price target on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.55.

Popular Profile

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.