Burney Co. Sells 14,141 Shares of Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Key Points

• Burney Co. cut its Popular, Inc. stake by 44.7% in the first quarter, selling 14,141 shares and leaving it with 17,499 shares worth about $2.35 million.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on BPOP: several analysts raised price targets, and the stock carries an average “Buy” rating with an average target price of $173.18.
• Popular reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the quarter, posting EPS of $3.78 versus the $3.30 estimate, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share.

Burney Co. lessened its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 44.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,499 shares of the bank's stock after selling 14,141 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.'s holdings in Popular were worth $2,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Popular by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Popular in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BPOP has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Popular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Popular from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $173.18.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $167.96 on Wednesday. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.74 and a 52-week high of $170.01. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $154.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. Popular had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 20.10%.The firm had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Popular's payout ratio is currently 22.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total value of $920,762.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This trade represents a 35.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $3,450,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,188,200. This represents a 39.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

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.

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