The Goldman Sachs Group Downgrades Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) to Hold

The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on SAN. Morgan Stanley upgraded Banco Santander from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Banco Santander Price Performance

Shares of Banco Santander stock traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, hitting $6.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,014,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,803,786. Banco Santander has a 1 year low of $4.03 and a 1 year high of $6.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $4.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 2.24. The company has a market capitalization of $96.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.12.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.21. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 15.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Banco Santander will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAN. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the second quarter worth $280,000. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Banco Santander by 13.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,341,733 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 159,610 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Banco Santander by 26.8% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 38,272 shares of the bank's stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 8,082 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Banco Santander by 19.9% during the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 93,980 shares of the bank's stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 15,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. lifted its stake in Banco Santander by 35.5% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 25,045 shares of the bank's stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 6,564 shares in the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Banco Santander

Banco Santander, SA provides various financial services worldwide. The company operates through Retail Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance, and PagoNxt segments. It offers demand and time deposits, mutual funds, and current and savings accounts; mortgages, consumer finance, loans, and various financing solutions; and project finance, debt capital markets, global transaction banking, and corporate finance services.