Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $12.70 and traded as high as $14.68. Banco Santander shares last traded at $14.6550, with a volume of 14,316,704 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Banco Santander from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Banco Santander from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Santander reissued 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 given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.73.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. 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 26.94% and a return on equity of 12.43%. The company had revenue of $17.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.90 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Banco Santander, S.A. will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 56,109,418 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $658,164,000 after buying an additional 1,719,432 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 18,037,272 shares of the bank’s stock worth $211,577,000 after acquiring an additional 398,787 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Banco Santander by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 14,766,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,839,000 after acquiring an additional 237,825 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Banco Santander by 8.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,844,029 shares of the bank’s stock worth $134,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Banco Santander by 118.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,413,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $128,741,000 after purchasing an additional 6,198,828 shares during the period. 9.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander Company Profile

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.