Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Director Sells $45,108.00 in Stock

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Director Alejandro Sanchez sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction of $45,108.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock opened at $149.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $143.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.44. The company has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.00 and a fifty-two week high of $152.97.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Popular by 23.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,715,000 after acquiring an additional 17,729 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Popular during the first quarter valued at about $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Popular by 60.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,647,000 after acquiring an additional 84,327 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Popular during the first quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Popular during the second quarter valued at about $252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BPOP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $168.73.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.