QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Banco Santander, S.A. $SAN

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,473,746 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 138,582 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $16,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SAN. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Banco Santander by 77.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 419,635 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 183,051 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 3.7% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 71,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 2,566 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 271.2% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,276 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 7,508 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 65.3% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 71,169 shares of the bank’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 28,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Banco Santander during the first quarter valued at $601,000. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Banco Santander Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Banco Santander stock opened at $13.96 on Friday. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $14.18. The company has a market capitalization of $205.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.16.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.02). Banco Santander had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm had revenue of $17.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.66 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on SAN shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Santander reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Banco Santander in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings lowered Banco Santander from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.