Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 190,264 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,099,467 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 190,264 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 5.67% of Popular worth $361,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,563,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Popular by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 139,694 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,465,000 after purchasing an additional 15,710 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Popular by 3.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 294,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,924,000 after purchasing an additional 10,308 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Popular by 2.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 282,639 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,898,000 after buying an additional 6,067 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at about $809,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BPOP. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research note on Thursday. Hovde Group boosted their price target on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Popular from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.22.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Manuel Chinea sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total value of $1,088,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,086 shares in the company, valued at $2,456,700.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.80, for a total transaction of $429,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,145,856. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Manuel Chinea sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total value of $1,088,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,086 shares in the company, valued at $2,456,700.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Popular Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BPOP traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $102.78. The stock had a trading volume of 410,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,307. The firm has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.86. Popular, Inc. has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $751.57 million. Popular had a return on equity of 12.00% and a net margin of 12.20%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 8.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 36.80%.

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.