Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Has $135,000 Stock Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lowered its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 98.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,440 shares of the bank's stock after selling 74,069 shares during the quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust's holdings in Popular were worth $135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in Popular by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 326 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Popular by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $81,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter worth approximately $166,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,017,666.90. This represents a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $100.49. 97,309 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,653. The company has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.23 and a twelve month high of $106.81. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $90.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.09.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $755.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Popular's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on BPOP. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $125.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Hovde Group lowered their target price on shares of Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.14.

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.