Popular, Inc. $BPOP Stock Holdings Cut by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 20.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 678,903 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 176,908 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Popular were worth $86,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BPOP. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Popular by 23.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 94,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,715,000 after acquiring an additional 17,729 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Popular during the 1st quarter valued at about $257,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Popular by 60.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 223,530 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,647,000 after purchasing an additional 84,327 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of Popular in the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BPOP shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Popular from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Popular from $153.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Popular in a report on Thursday, January 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Popular from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.00.

Popular Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of BPOP stock opened at $136.69 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.63. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.23 and a 1-year high of $136.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.90.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 18.75%.The firm had revenue of $815.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 24.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.50, for a total value of $312,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,611,992.50. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.84, for a total transaction of $114,840.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $299,043.36. This represents a 27.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,360 shares of company stock worth $3,265,040. 2.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.