Popular, Inc. $BPOP Shares Sold by Jacobs Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Jacobs Asset Management LLC reduced its Popular, Inc. stake by 47.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 45,153 shares and leaving it with 50,000 shares worth about $6.23 million.
• Several other institutions were active in BPOP, with firms like AQR Capital Management, Norges Bank, and Balyasny Asset Management either adding new positions or significantly increasing holdings; institutional ownership now stands at 87.27%.
• Popular reported strong quarterly earnings of $3.78 per share, beating estimates, and analysts remain mostly bullish with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $168.73. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.75 per share, payable July 1.

Jacobs Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 47.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,000 shares of the bank's stock after selling 45,153 shares during the period. Popular accounts for 3.5% of Jacobs Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Jacobs Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Popular worth $6,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Popular by 56.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank's stock worth $376,314,000 after buying an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter worth $104,955,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Popular by 2,752.6% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,684,000 after buying an additional 301,494 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Popular by 12,382.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 258,517 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,191,000 after buying an additional 256,446 shares during the period. Finally, Ceeto Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Popular in the third quarter worth $29,115,000. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Popular

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.36, for a total transaction of $45,108.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at $595,425.60. This trade represents a 7.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870 over the last 90 days. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BPOP shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Popular from $170.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research lowered Popular from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Popular from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group increased their price target on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Popular from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $168.73.

Popular Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $160.95 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.56 and a 1 year high of $161.26. The stock has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $148.25 and a 200-day moving average of $136.32.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $816.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 15.14 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. 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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