AIA Group Ltd Has $336,000 Position in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

AIA Group Ltd decreased its stake in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,574 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,247 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Popular were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Popular by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,286,832 shares of the bank’s stock worth $873,519,000 after buying an additional 56,222 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Popular by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,056,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,475,000 after purchasing an additional 10,599 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Popular by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,908,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $179,505,000 after purchasing an additional 25,222 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Popular by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,362,875 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,192,000 after acquiring an additional 39,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Popular by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,054,849 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,769,000 after purchasing an additional 71,782 shares in the last quarter. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BPOP. StockNews.com downgraded Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Popular from $116.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Popular in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Popular presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $113.00.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In related news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Price Performance

BPOP opened at $91.11 on Wednesday. Popular, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.60 and a fifty-two week high of $106.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $97.64 and its 200 day moving average is $96.88.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.47. Popular had a net margin of 14.15% and a return on equity of 11.89%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

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

Popular 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.