Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $27,000 in Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Popular, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPOP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 26,995 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Popular by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Popular by 0.7% during the fourth 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 period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Popular by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 92,877 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,736,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Popular by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,631 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $906,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Popular

In other news, EVP Eduardo J. Negron sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total value of $1,040,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $984,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,170 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,666.90. This trade represents a 19.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.09% of the company’s stock.

Popular Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BPOP opened at $91.52 on Friday. Popular, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.60 and a 1-year high of $106.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $97.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.95.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.51 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Popular, Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Popular Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Popular’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BPOP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Popular from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Popular from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Popular from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Popular from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Popular in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.00.

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.