Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 63.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 115,177 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 199,141 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Popular were worth $10,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Popular by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Popular by 4.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Popular by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,953 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 0.8% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 19,690 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Popular by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,709 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. The trade was a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BPOP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.25.

Popular Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $87.14 on Thursday. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.60 and a 12-month high of $106.81. The firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.67.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. Research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.71%.

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.