Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp lowered its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 16.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,722 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,141 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Popular were worth $529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 14,449 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 4,818 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 105.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,256 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 6,281 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Popular by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Popular by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,362,875 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,192,000 after acquiring an additional 39,999 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total transaction of $52,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.14, for a total transaction of $728,980.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,851,561.48. This trade represents a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Popular in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Popular from $114.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Two 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.29.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock opened at $111.30 on Wednesday. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.23 and a fifty-two week high of $115.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $106.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.63.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a net margin of 15.82% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The company had revenue of $755.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $760.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.90%.

Popular 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.