Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 37.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,943 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,603 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Popular were worth $569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BPOP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Popular in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,842,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Popular by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,418,729 shares of the bank's stock valued at $133,446,000 after purchasing an additional 515,798 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Popular by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 697,389 shares of the bank's stock worth $65,596,000 after purchasing an additional 93,262 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Popular by 304.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,042,000 after purchasing an additional 75,164 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Popular by 7.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank's stock valued at $105,769,000 after purchasing an additional 71,782 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total transaction of $984,672.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,017,666.90. This represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP remained flat at $95.94 during mid-day trading on Friday. 593,281 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 486,930. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.27. Popular, Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.23 and a 12 month high of $106.81. The stock has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The firm had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $760.45 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Popular's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group dropped their price target on shares of Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $111.14.

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.