Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN - Free Report) by 91.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,382 shares of the bank's stock after selling 96,198 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $43,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SAN. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Banco Santander during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Echo45 Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Banco Santander in the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.19% of the company's stock.

Banco Santander Trading Up 0.2 %

Banco Santander stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,043,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,188,004. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 1 year low of $4.07 and a 1 year high of $6.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.75 billion, a PE ratio of 7.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's fifty day moving average is $5.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.98.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 15.88%. On average, analysts anticipate that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SAN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Banco Santander from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Banco Santander from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Banco Santander from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy".

Banco Santander Profile

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.