Is Popular Stock a Buy or Sell After a Director Dumps Shares Worth Nearly $3 Million?

Richard L. Carrion, a member of the Board of Directors at Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP), executed an open-market sale of 25,000 shares on November 24, 2025, as disclosed in this SEC Form 4 filing.

Transaction summary

Transaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($113.50).

Key questions

• What proportion of Richard Carrion's direct holdings did this sale represent?
  The 25,000 shares sold accounted for 11.47% of his direct ownership prior to the transaction, reducing his direct stake from 218,020 shares to 193,020 shares.
• How does this transaction compare to Mr. Carrion's historical trading activity?
  Over the past two years, Mr. Carrion executed just one open-market sale, with the remainder of his Form 4 filings comprising administrative entries. As such, this transaction is his only reported open-market disposition during the period.
• What is the context of the sale relative to Popular's stock performance?
  The shares were sold at a weighted average price of $113.50 per share on November 24, 2025, when the stock closed at $112.86. As of November 24, 2025, Popular had delivered an 18.69% one-year total return.
• What is Mr. Carrion's remaining economic exposure to Popular after the sale?
  Post-transaction, Mr. Carrion retains direct ownership of 193,020 shares (valued at ~$21.8 million as of November 24, 2025).

Company overview

* 1-year price change calculated using November 24, 2025 as the reference date.

Company snapshot

• Popular offers a comprehensive suite of retail, mortgage, and commercial banking products, including deposit accounts, commercial and consumer loans, leasing, investment banking, and insurance services.
• The company generates revenue primarily through net interest income on loans and deposits, as well as fee-based income from financial services and banking operations.
• Popular serves retail, small business, and commercial clients across Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands, with a strong branch and ATM network supporting broad market access.

Popular, Inc. operates as a regional bank with operations in Puerto Rico, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands, leveraging a broad branch network and diversified financial services to serve individual and business customers.

Foolish take

Richard Carrion's number of shares sold was a large percentage of his direct holdings, but it's not a warning sign to sell. He still retains over 193,000 direct shares, and another 74,467 shares indirectly, which suggests Mr. Carrion isn't in a rush to dump his holdings.

Popular shares have been climbing in 2025, and Mr. Carrion's sale came in the wake of the stock hitting a 52-week high of $129.32 in September. Shares could rise higher, with the consensus among Wall Street analysts predicting an average price target of $143.11 as of Nov. 28.

Popular stock is rising because the company is doing well. Its net interest income in the third quarter was $646.5 million, up from $572.5 million in 2024. This contributed to net income of $211.3 million compared to $155.3 million in the prior year.

There's no rush for shareholders to sell Popular stock, given the financial institution's excellent business performance. In terms of buying shares, Popular's price-to-earnings ratio of 10 is lower than it's been for most of the past year, suggesting the stock is a good value, and now is not a bad time to buy.

Glossary

Open-market sale: When an insider sells company shares on a public exchange, not as part of a pre-arranged plan.
Director: A member of a company's board responsible for overseeing management and major corporate decisions.
Form 4: A required SEC filing disclosing insider transactions in a company’s securities.
Weighted average purchase price: The average price paid per share, weighted by the number of shares bought or sold at each price.
Administrative entries: Non-trading changes in insider holdings, such as grants, awards, or transfers, reported on SEC forms.
Total return: The investment's price change plus all dividends and distributions, assuming those payouts are reinvested.
Dividend yield: Annual dividends per share divided by the share price, expressed as a percentage.
Net interest income: The difference between interest earned on loans and interest paid on deposits.
TTM: The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.
Economic exposure: The total value at risk an investor has in a security, reflecting potential gains or losses.
Disposition: The act of selling or otherwise transferring ownership of an asset.
Direct ownership: Shares held personally by an individual, not through trusts or other entities.

Robert Izquierdo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.