Ceeto Capital Group LLC Purchases Shares of 227,887 Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Ceeto Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 227,887 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $29,115,000. Popular accounts for 8.4% of Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after buying an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Popular in the second quarter worth approximately $93,578,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Popular by 2,752.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,684,000 after acquiring an additional 301,494 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Popular by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $225,990,000 after acquiring an additional 283,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Popular by 9,769.4% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,586,000 after purchasing an additional 265,728 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, January 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Popular from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on Popular from $161.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $156.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,611,992.50. The trade was a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $204,373.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $481,002.75. The trade was a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $130.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.61. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.23 and a twelve month high of $149.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.49.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.55 million. Popular had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 13.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

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

About Popular

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.