Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . 9,148,033 shares traded hands during 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

Several research firms have recently commented on SAN. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Banco Santander from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Santander restated a “buy” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Santander Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.47. The company has a market capitalization of $214.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.73.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $17.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.90 billion. Banco Santander had a net margin of 26.94% and a return on equity of 12.43%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 1.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 117.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Banco Santander in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in Banco Santander by 151.1% during the 2nd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

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.