Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases 16,085 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 336,807 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,085 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Popular worth $29,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Popular by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,108,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $337,213,000 after acquiring an additional 19,849 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Popular by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,816,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,240,000 after purchasing an additional 216,855 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Popular by 57.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,732 shares of the bank’s stock worth $88,859,000 after purchasing an additional 366,870 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at $66,881,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Popular by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 733,072 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,163,000 after buying an additional 21,386 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,145,856. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.70, for a total transaction of $1,088,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,086 shares in the company, valued at $2,456,700.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Trading Up 2.1 %

BPOP stock traded up $2.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $104.28. 380,138 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 394,994. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $105.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.80.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.38. Popular had a return on equity of 12.00% and a net margin of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $751.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 36.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BPOP. Hovde Group raised their price objective on Popular from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up previously from $110.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Popular from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Popular from $96.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Popular from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.22.

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.