Sapience Investments LLC Decreases Holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Sapience Investments LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,811 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,945 shares during the quarter. Popular makes up about 1.7% of Sapience Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Sapience Investments LLC's holdings in Popular were worth $2,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Popular by 1,719.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 37,775 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,553,000 after buying an additional 35,699 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 39,999 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Popular by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Popular by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 24,037 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 4,550 shares during the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Popular

In related news, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 500 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.43, for a total value of $52,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,365.72. This trade represents a 12.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BPOP. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Popular from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $125.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Hovde Group dropped their price target on Popular from $118.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Popular from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.43.

Popular Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP traded down $0.58 during trading on Thursday, reaching $102.16. The company had a trading volume of 176,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,238. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.23 and a 12-month high of $106.81. The business's 50-day moving average is $92.92 and its 200 day moving average is $95.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.60.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $755.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $760.45 million. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. Popular's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 29th. Popular's payout ratio is 28.90%.

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.