Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $4.74, but opened at $4.53. Banco Santander shares last traded at $4.54, with a volume of 1,006,353 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SAN shares. UBS Group raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Banco Santander from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Banco Santander Trading Down 4.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.88. The firm has a market cap of $72.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.14.

Banco Santander Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 3%. Banco Santander’s payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAN. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Banco Santander by 33.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,893,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,558,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,236 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Banco Santander during the 3rd quarter worth $22,500,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Banco Santander by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 143,585,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $732,284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 4,824,760 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,352,000 after purchasing an additional 834,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

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.