Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 1,090,908 Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN)

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its holdings in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 91.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 103,513 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,090,908 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SAN. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Banco Santander by 55.1% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 157,937 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 56,123 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Banco Santander during the fourth quarter worth $1,221,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Banco Santander by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,148,083 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,699,000 after buying an additional 4,139,669 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Banco Santander by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 959,806 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,974,000 after acquiring an additional 221,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sollinda Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Banco Santander during the 4th quarter worth about $122,000. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on SAN. UBS Group upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com cut Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 22nd.

Banco Santander Trading Down 5.3 %

SAN opened at $4.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $76.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.85. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 1-year low of $3.52 and a 1-year high of $5.27.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.87 billion for the quarter. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 15.35%. On average, research analysts forecast that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Banco Santander Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

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.