Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by Penbrook Management LLC

Penbrook Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,800 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Popular accounts for approximately 0.9% of Penbrook Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Penbrook Management LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in Popular by 15.2% during the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 94,815 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,507,000 after purchasing an additional 12,494 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Popular by 7.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,769,000 after purchasing an additional 71,782 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Popular by 83.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Popular by 279.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 38,798 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 28,574 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Popular by 284.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,403 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,260,000 after purchasing an additional 53,590 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Popular

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

Popular Stock Up 1.2 %

BPOP stock opened at $103.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.35. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.60 and a 52 week high of $106.46.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. On average, analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BPOP. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.63.

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.