Popular, Inc. $BPOP Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has reduced its holdings in Popular, Inc. by 6.5%, now owning 633,312 shares after selling 44,191 shares in the first quarter.
• Popular, Inc.'s stock has seen changes in institutional holdings, with Price T Rowe Associates and Massachusetts Financial Services both increasing their stakes by 5% and 4.7%, respectively.
• The stock currently holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with Barclays raising its price target from $125 to $140.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 633,312 shares of the bank's stock after selling 44,191 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.91% of Popular worth $58,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 201,067 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Popular by 4.7% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,485,141 shares of the bank's stock worth $137,182,000 after acquiring an additional 66,412 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Popular by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,312,952 shares of the bank's stock worth $123,496,000 after acquiring an additional 459,231 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 988,777 shares of the bank's stock valued at $93,004,000 after buying an additional 23,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Popular by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 937,274 shares of the bank's stock valued at $88,160,000 after buying an additional 24,842 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Popular Stock Up 0.1%

BPOP stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.34. The company had a trading volume of 569,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,088. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $112.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.17. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.23 and a fifty-two week high of $120.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.65.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60 by $0.49. Popular had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 16.49%.The company had revenue of $800.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Popular in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Popular from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Popular from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $128.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of Popular 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 27,382 shares in the company, valued at $2,851,561.48. The trade was a 20.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.