Man Group plc Sells 2,623 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Man Group plc cut its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,628 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,623 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Popular by 1,719.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,553,000 after acquiring an additional 35,699 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Popular by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,362,875 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,192,000 after acquiring an additional 39,999 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Popular by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,223,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Popular by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 24,037 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Popular Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $102.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $93.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.14. The company has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.23 and a 52-week high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 28.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on BPOP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Popular from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Hovde Group cut their price objective on shares of Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Popular has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total value of $52,215.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,365.72. This trade represents a 12.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

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.