QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 125,929 Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,816,806 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,929 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $8,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SAN. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 17,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 2,032 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 17,220 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Banco Santander by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 50,013 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in Banco Santander by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 33,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Banco Santander by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 12,665 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on SAN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Price Performance

NYSE SAN opened at $6.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.97. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 1 year low of $4.07 and a 1 year high of $6.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $96.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.12.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.21 earnings per share (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, equities research analysts forecast that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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.