BNP Paribas Financial Markets Cuts Holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,388 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,308 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Popular were worth $1,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BPOP. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Popular by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 119,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,255,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497 shares during the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $977,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Popular by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 28,521 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after buying an additional 12,107 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 937,274 shares of the bank’s stock worth $88,160,000 after purchasing an additional 24,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 535,540 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,373,000 after purchasing an additional 63,019 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $104.52 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $106.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.70.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Popular’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BPOP has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.43.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total transaction of $52,215.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,365.72. The trade was a 12.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Popular

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.