Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $3.91 Million Stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,547 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,347 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.06% of Popular worth $3,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BPOP. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Popular by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,239 shares of the bank's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Popular by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,953 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Popular by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,709 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,888,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BPOP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Popular from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report 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 research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised Popular from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Popular

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the 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 completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 32,866 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 2.09% of the company's stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.81. 613,856 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 478,256. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $92.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.39. The company has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.62. Popular, Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.23 and a 52 week high of $106.81.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Popular's payout ratio is presently 32.71%.

About Popular

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.