Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) Shares Bought by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 146,164 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 12,432 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Popular were worth $13,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Popular by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in Popular by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 326 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Popular by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,953 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Popular by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,709 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Popular by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BPOP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Popular in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.00.

Popular Trading Down 1.4 %

BPOP opened at $91.11 on Wednesday. Popular, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.60 and a twelve month high of $106.81. The firm has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.88.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Popular’s payout ratio is 32.71%.

Insider Activity

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

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.