Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 75,164 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 304.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,861 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 75,164 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Popular were worth $10,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BPOP. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the bank’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Popular by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 31,582 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,793,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Popular by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 607,253 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,699,000 after buying an additional 20,522 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the 2nd quarter worth about $277,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,832 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. The trade was a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total transaction of $178,320.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,569.72. This represents a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $91.66 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $96.10 and its 200-day moving average is $95.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.01 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Popular’s payout ratio is 38.04%.

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.