Insider Selling: Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) VP Sells $101,274.00 in Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 600 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $101,274.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $420,624.68. The trade was a 19.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $169.75 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $108.74 and a 12-month high of $179.24. The company has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $170.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.49.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.72 by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $846.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $878.41 million. Popular had a return on equity of 15.34% and a net margin of 21.37%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.09 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Popular by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 187,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,369,000 after acquiring an additional 17,148 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Popular by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,405,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,057,000 after acquiring an additional 64,778 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Popular by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 540,646 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,321,000 after acquiring an additional 118,496 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,038,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Popular by 8.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 465,720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,486,000 after purchasing an additional 35,226 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BPOP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Popular from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $163.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.92.

Popular Company 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.