Bridgewater Associates LP Has $1.37 Million Stock Holdings in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its stake in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 49.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,642 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 13,246 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Popular were worth $1,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Popular during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Popular during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Popular during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Popular during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Popular during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.27% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $99.36 on Monday. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.80 and a fifty-two week high of $105.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $96.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.70.

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

Popular Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Popular’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Popular’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BPOP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Popular from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Popular from $117.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a 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, Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.88.

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.