Essential Planning LLC. Buys New Stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,140 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $778,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Popular by 15.4% during 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 buying an additional 93,262 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Popular during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,115,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Popular by 18.3% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 548,057 shares of the bank's stock worth $54,954,000 after purchasing an additional 84,839 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Popular during the third quarter worth about $8,385,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 75,164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BPOP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised Popular from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $113.00.

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Popular Price Performance

NASDAQ BPOP traded up $0.33 on Monday, hitting $90.44. The company had a trading volume of 744,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 430,685. The company has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. Popular, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.60 and a 12-month high of $106.81. The company's fifty day moving average price is $98.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.49.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

Popular Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Popular's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Popular news, EVP Gilberto Monzon sold 9,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,666.90. This represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $1,040,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,418,721.32. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. 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.