Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 199,309 Shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 75.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,742 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 199,309 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.09% of Popular worth $5,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BPOP. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Popular by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 697,389 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,596,000 after purchasing an additional 93,262 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Popular in the third quarter valued at about $9,115,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Popular by 18.3% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 548,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,954,000 after purchasing an additional 84,839 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Popular in the third quarter valued at about $8,385,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Popular by 304.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,861 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,042,000 after purchasing an additional 75,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of Popular stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.57, for a total value of $984,672.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,666.90. This represents a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ BPOP opened at $90.11 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.60 and a 52 week high of $106.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.54. The company has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 14.15%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Popular from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.00.

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 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.