Kovack Advisors Inc. Boosts Position in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 85.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,776 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 9,103 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $90,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its position in Banco Santander by 197.0% during the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 557,390 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 369,700 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings 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 valued at $3,602,000 after buying an additional 372,690 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,893,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,558,000 after buying an additional 5,290,236 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 143.0% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 345,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after buying an additional 203,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 668,343 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,409,000 after buying an additional 214,868 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SAN. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SAN opened at $6.39 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $96.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.99. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 12 month low of $4.07 and a 12 month high of $6.50.

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

Banco Santander Company 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.