Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,407,110 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,378 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Banco Santander were worth $15,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its position in Banco Santander by 197.0% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 557,390 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 369,700 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 111.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 706,184 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,602,000 after acquiring an additional 372,690 shares during 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 purchasing an additional 5,290,236 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 143.0% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 345,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,757,000 after buying an additional 203,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 105,415 shares of the bank’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 40,438 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SAN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE SAN opened at $6.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $101.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. Banco Santander, S.A. has a 1 year low of $4.27 and a 1 year high of $7.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 2.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.27.

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

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.1152 dividend. This is a positive change from Banco Santander’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.4%. Banco Santander’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.28%.

About Banco Santander

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.