Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,982,225 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 19,115 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 5.53% of Popular worth $241,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC boosted its holdings in Popular by 1.6% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 24,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Popular by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,655 shares of the bank’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Popular by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 86,081 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,210,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in Popular during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $265,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maria Luisa Ferre sold 2,095 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.99, for a total value of $142,439.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,856. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Maria Luisa Ferre sold 2,095 shares of Popular stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.99, for a total value of $142,439.05. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,856. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Camille Burckhart sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.40, for a total transaction of $450,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,722.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,850 shares of company stock worth $905,507. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BPOP opened at $72.35 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 0.88. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $73.99.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The bank reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $693.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.21 million. Popular had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 18.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 7th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This is a boost from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 6th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Popular’s payout ratio is presently 22.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BPOP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Popular from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Popular in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Popular from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Popular in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.83.

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 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.