Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV decreased its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 91.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,306 shares of the bank's stock after selling 34,469 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Popular were worth $305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 14,449 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 4,818 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 105.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,256 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,132,000 after buying an additional 6,281 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position 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 worth $398,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Popular by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,362,875 shares of the bank's stock worth $128,192,000 after buying an additional 39,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $114.14. 291,536 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 537,600. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.23 and a 52-week high of $115.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.63. The business's fifty day moving average price is $105.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.34.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $755.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.45 million. Popular had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 15.82%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. Popular's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BPOP has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Popular from $110.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on Popular from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $118.29.

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.