Martingale Asset Management L P Has $19.73 Million Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. $BPOP

Martingale Asset Management L P lessened its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 155,368 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,007 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Popular were worth $19,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Popular in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,578,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Popular by 32.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,419 shares of the bank’s stock worth $209,115,000 after purchasing an additional 464,820 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Popular by 18.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,779,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $225,990,000 after buying an additional 283,000 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Popular by 9,769.4% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 268,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,586,000 after acquiring an additional 265,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Popular by 34.3% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 954,968 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,290,000 after buying an additional 244,108 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $130.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $134.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.43. Popular, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.23 and a 52-week high of $149.31.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.36. Popular had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 13.70%. The company had revenue of $806.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $811.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.51 EPS. Analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 18th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.35%.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 2,360 shares of Popular stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 57,449 shares in the company, valued at $7,611,992.50. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Alejandro M. Sanchez sold 1,451 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $204,373.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,415 shares in the company, valued at $481,002.75. This trade represents a 29.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BPOP. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $142.00 price objective on shares of Popular in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $152.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Popular from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. 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. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $153.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $156.55.

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.