Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) Shares Sold by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 401,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,633 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Sanofi were worth $19,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Sanofi by 6.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 173,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,314,000 after acquiring an additional 10,185 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sanofi by 14.1% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Sanofi by 16.0% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 39,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,457 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Sanofi by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,096,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,437,000 after acquiring an additional 31,773 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Sanofi by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 220,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,802,000 after purchasing an additional 50,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SNY shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of Sanofi from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Sanofi from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Sanofi in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.00.

Sanofi Stock Performance

Sanofi stock opened at $49.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Sanofi has a 1-year low of $42.63 and a 1-year high of $55.93. The stock has a market cap of $124.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $11.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.02 billion. Sanofi had a return on equity of 19.69% and a net margin of 10.52%. On average, analysts expect that Sanofi will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.478 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $1.38. This represents a yield of 2.98%. Sanofi’s dividend payout ratio is 69.35%.

Sanofi Profile

Sanofi, a healthcare company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of therapeutic solutions in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare segments. The company provides specialty care, such as DUPIXENT, neurology and immunology, rare diseases, oncology, and rare blood disorders; medicines for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; and established prescription products.