Insider Selling: Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Director Sells 300 Shares of Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Director Alejandro Sanchez sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director owned 3,960 shares in the company, valued at $595,425.60. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Popular Stock Up 1.2%

BPOP traded up $1.84 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $152.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 86,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,390. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $102.00 and a one year high of $152.97. The firm has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.65.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Popular

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Popular by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,715,000 after buying an additional 17,729 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the 1st quarter worth $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 60.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,647,000 after purchasing an additional 84,327 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the 2nd quarter worth about $252,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Popular from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

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.