Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Sells 6,031 Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 345,803 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,031 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $1,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Banco Santander by 197.0% in the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 557,390 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 369,700 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Banco Santander by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 105,415 shares of the bank’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 40,438 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Banco Santander during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,319,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 284.9% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 670,513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,057,000 after acquiring an additional 496,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments lifted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 227,478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 92,987 shares in the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SAN. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Banco Santander stock opened at $7.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $114.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83. Banco Santander, S.A. has a twelve month low of $4.27 and a twelve month high of $7.64.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.94 billion. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 15.88%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.1152 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio is 20.69%.

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.