Insider Selling: Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Director Sells 23,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Alejandro Ballester, a director at Popular, sold 23,000 shares on April 30 at an average price of $150 for about $3.45 million, cutting his stake by roughly 39.94% to 34,588 shares per an SEC filing.
• Popular beat Q1 EPS expectations with $3.78 (vs. $3.30 est.) but missed revenue ($822.6M vs. $866.5M), and its stock traded around $149.41 with a market cap near $9.7B and a 12‑month range of $96.61–$152.95.
• Analysts are largely bullish (11 Buys, 1 Hold) with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and average target ~$168.73, while the company pays a $0.75 quarterly dividend (annualized $3.00, ~2.0% yield).

Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) Director Alejandro Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 34,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,188,200. This trade represents a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Popular Trading Down 0.6%

Popular stock traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $149.41. The stock had a trading volume of 135,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 558,253. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.61 and a 12 month high of $152.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.02.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 14.65% and a net margin of 20.10%.The business had revenue of $822.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $866.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Popular's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on BPOP shares. Hovde Group upped their price objective on Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Popular from $156.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $168.73.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC acquired a new position in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Popular by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Popular by 262.9% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 352 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Popular Company 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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