16,367 Shares in Popular, Inc. $BPOP Bought by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,367 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,038,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Popular by 140.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 45,170 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,737,000 after purchasing an additional 26,354 shares in the last quarter. Ceeto Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Popular in the third quarter valued at about $29,115,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Popular by 68.6% during the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,198,000 after buying an additional 7,043 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth approximately $653,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 112.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 44,616 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,620,000 after buying an additional 23,584 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $149.35 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $138.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.61 and a 52 week high of $152.95.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $822.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $866.54 million. Popular had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 20.10%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BPOP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Popular from $155.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Credit Suisse Group set a $156.00 price objective on Popular in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Popular from $141.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Popular from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Popular has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.73.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $204,373.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at $481,002.75. This represents a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.13% 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.