Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Short Interest Update

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,170,000 shares, a drop of 33.9% from the November 30th total of 9,340,000 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,940,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SAN. UBS Group raised Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Banco Santander from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Institutional Trading of Banco Santander

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAN. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Banco Santander by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,341,733 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 159,610 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings 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 worth $3,602,000 after buying an additional 372,690 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Banco Santander by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,893,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,558,000 after buying an additional 5,290,236 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 203,322 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Banco Santander by 47.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 668,343 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,409,000 after purchasing an additional 214,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.19% of the company’s stock.

Banco Santander Stock Performance

Shares of SAN stock remained flat at $4.49 on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 4,693,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,774,334. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $71.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.12. Banco Santander has a 12 month low of $3.83 and a 12 month high of $5.27.

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.