Geode Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Geode Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,198,509 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,577 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $120,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Popular during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Popular in the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Popular by 216.1% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total transaction of $347,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BPOP shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Popular from $104.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Popular from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.63.

Popular Stock Down 1.9 %

Popular stock opened at $93.88 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.36. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.01 and a 52 week high of $105.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 12.36%. The company had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is an increase from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Popular’s payout ratio is currently 38.04%.

About Popular

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.