Arizona State Retirement System Has $1.66 Million Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,163 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 330 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Popular by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 30,898 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,947,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Popular by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Popular by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 4,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Popular by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,729 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total transaction of $391,793.22. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,260,092.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 599 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.65, for a total value of $51,304.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,272,208.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Luis E. Cestero sold 4,641 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.42, for a total transaction of $391,793.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,260,092.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BPOP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Popular from $103.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on Popular from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Popular from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.63.

Popular Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $82.75 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.32 and a 1-year high of $89.70. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.64 and a 200-day moving average of $77.38.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.89. Popular had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $702.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $699.76 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.93%.

Popular Company Profile

Popular, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products and services in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands. The company provides savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; and certificates of deposit.