Sapience Investments LLC Cuts Stock Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Sapience Investments LLC lowered its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,811 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,945 shares during the period. Popular comprises 1.7% of Sapience Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Sapience Investments LLC’s holdings in Popular were worth $2,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BPOP. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter worth $79,842,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Popular by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank’s stock worth $133,446,000 after purchasing an additional 515,798 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Popular by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,312,952 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,496,000 after purchasing an additional 459,231 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Popular by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,192,769 shares of the bank’s stock worth $394,373,000 after purchasing an additional 201,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Popular by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 723,384 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,041,000 after purchasing an additional 175,327 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Hovde Group dropped their price target on Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.43.

Popular Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $104.52 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.23 and a 52-week high of $106.81. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $91.96 and its 200 day moving average is $95.67.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total value of $52,215.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,604 shares in the company, valued at $376,365.72. This represents a 12.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.23% of the company’s stock.

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.