MQS Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,710 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Popular by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,286,832 shares of the bank's stock worth $873,519,000 after buying an additional 56,222 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Popular by 5.0% during 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 buying an additional 201,067 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Popular by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,908,406 shares of the bank's stock valued at $179,505,000 after purchasing an additional 25,222 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Popular by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank's stock valued at $133,446,000 after purchasing an additional 515,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Popular by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,362,875 shares of the bank's stock valued at $128,192,000 after purchasing an additional 39,999 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 owned 3,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $376,365.72. This trade represents a 12.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.14, for a total transaction of $728,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 27,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,851,561.48. This represents a 20.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of BPOP traded up $0.48 on Friday, hitting $115.33. 208,775 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 581,465. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.63. The stock's 50 day moving average is $106.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.08. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.23 and a 1 year high of $115.96.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. Popular had a net margin of 15.82% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. Popular's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on BPOP shares. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Popular from $114.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Popular in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Popular from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Popular from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.29.

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.