Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 9,148,033 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the previous session’s volume of 10,861,747 shares.The stock last traded at $14.62 and had previously closed at $14.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SAN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Santander reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Up 0.5%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.51. The firm has a market cap of $216.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.73.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $17.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.90 billion. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 26.94%. As a group, research analysts expect that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Banco Santander by 117.9% in the first quarter. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,308 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 151.1% in the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,471 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,487 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 (NYSE: SAN) is a Spanish multinational banking group headquartered in Santander, Spain. Founded in 1857, the bank has grown from a regional institution into one of Europe’s largest banking groups, operating a diversified financial services platform that serves retail, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large corporate clients. Santander is publicly listed in Spain and maintains American Depositary Receipts on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SAN.

The group’s core activities include retail and commercial banking—offering deposit accounts, payment services, mortgages, personal and auto loans, and small business financing—alongside corporate and investment banking services for larger institutional clients.