Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 9,788 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 164.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,731 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 9,788 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Popular were worth $1,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 31,357 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,309 shares of the bank's stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 3,200 shares of the bank's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,247 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,202 shares of the bank's stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total transaction of $52,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $376,365.72. This represents a 12.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.14, for a total value of $728,980.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,851,561.48. The trade was a 20.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Popular Trading Up 0.8%

Popular stock traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $115.33. 491,444 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 509,399. The firm has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $108.56 and a 200 day moving average of $100.10. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.23 and a 12 month high of $118.54.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $800.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $777.38 million. Popular had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 16.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Popular's payout ratio is currently 27.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Popular from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Popular from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price target on Popular from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Popular from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $128.88.

About Popular

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.