Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Raises Holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 8.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 902,931 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,620 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Popular were worth $90,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BPOP. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Popular in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Popular in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Popular during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Popular in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 16.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Popular stock opened at $98.96 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.31. Popular, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.08 and a 1 year high of $105.01. The company has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.79.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.17). Popular had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The firm had revenue of $736.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BPOP. Barclays dropped their target price on Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Popular from $108.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Popular from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Popular presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.88.

Insider Activity at Popular

In other news, EVP Beatriz Castellvi sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.16, for a total value of $347,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,490,403.40. This trade represents a 12.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Adorno Denissa Rodriguez sold 1,825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.71, for a total value of $178,320.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,569.72. The trade was a 35.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.