Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Given New $180.00 Price Target at Barclays

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Barclays from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the bank’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 27.53% from the stock’s current price.

BPOP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Popular from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Hovde Group increased their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.18.

Popular Trading Up 0.9%

BPOP stock traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $141.14. 316,849 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 561,741. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.38. Popular has a one year low of $79.63 and a one year high of $149.31. The company has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.59.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $811.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.51 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Popular will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Popular

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Popular by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,452 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $104,955,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Popular by 85.2% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 680,282 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,709,000 after acquiring an additional 312,984 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Popular by 2,752.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,684,000 after acquiring an additional 301,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Popular by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $225,990,000 after acquiring an additional 283,000 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.