Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Shares Sold by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its holdings in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,673,652 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 393,327 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.09% of Banco Santander worth $62,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Banco Santander by 23.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,024,556 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,225,000 after purchasing an additional 193,255 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Banco Santander by 4.3% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 878,014 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,478,000 after purchasing an additional 36,221 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Banco Santander by 33.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,893,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,558,000 after buying an additional 5,290,236 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Banco Santander by 111.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 706,184 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,602,000 after purchasing an additional 372,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Banco Santander by 22.1% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 29,381 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 5,311 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SAN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander has an average rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SAN opened at $6.78 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 2.24. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 52 week low of $4.27 and a 52 week high of $7.16. The firm has a market cap of $102.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. Banco Santander had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 11.90%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.1152 per share. This is a positive change from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.28%.

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.