Martingale Asset Management L P Cuts Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Martingale Asset Management L P reduced its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,143 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 30,225 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned approximately 0.19% of Popular worth $15,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 140.1% in the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,737,000 after buying an additional 26,354 shares in the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Popular in the third quarter valued at about $29,115,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 112.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,620,000 after buying an additional 23,584 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Popular by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 187,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,369,000 after buying an additional 17,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fieldview Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 67.5% in the third quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC now owns 37,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,755,000 after buying an additional 15,081 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $160.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.32. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.56 and a 1-year high of $161.26. The stock has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.16%.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. 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 transaction, the director directly owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Popular from $135.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $168.73.

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.