Artemis Investment Management LLP Invests $2.04 Million in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) of 16,367 shares valued at approximately $2.04 million in the fourth quarter, and institutional investors now own about 87.27% of the company.
• Company insiders executed notable sales: Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares for roughly $204,373, and Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares for about $3.45 million, representing sizeable reductions in their positions.
• Analysts are largely positive—11 Buy ratings vs. 1 Hold with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.73—and Popular recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($3.78 vs. $3.30) though revenue slightly missed expectations.

Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,367 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,038,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in Popular by 0.6% in the third quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 17,000 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 1.3% in the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 6.6% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,613 shares of the bank's stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. OneAscent Investment Solutions LLC now owns 2,997 shares of the bank's stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the sale, the director owned 3,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $481,002.75. The trade was a 29.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,588 shares in the company, valued at $5,188,200. This represents a 39.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BPOP. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price objective on Popular in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Popular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.73.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $149.35 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.61 and a fifty-two week high of $152.95. The firm has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50 day moving average price is $138.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.07.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $822.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 18th. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Popular Profile

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.

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