Ceeto Capital Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Ceeto Capital Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,200 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 117,687 shares during the quarter. Popular accounts for approximately 4.0% of Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $13,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,489,936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,057,167,000 after buying an additional 37,424 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after buying an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $175,057,000 after buying an additional 64,778 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,043,733 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after buying an additional 88,765 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $104,955,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Popular has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.73.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $148.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.37. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.56 and a 52-week high of $152.97.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. The trade was a 35.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock worth $4,415,870 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

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.