Sanofi $SNY Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,465 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,511 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sanofi were worth $5,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sanofi during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Sanofi during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sanofi in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Sanofi in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new position in Sanofi during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. 14.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SNY shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Sanofi in a report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sanofi from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Sanofi from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sanofi in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Sanofi from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

Sanofi Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:SNY opened at $43.77 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.81. Sanofi has a 52 week low of $43.10 and a 52 week high of $53.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $106.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.35.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a $2.4225 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 559.0%. This is a boost from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $2.04. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. Sanofi’s payout ratio is 49.44%.

Sanofi Profile

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in France that researches, develops, manufactures and markets prescription medicines, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. The company operates across multiple therapeutic areas, including immunology, rare diseases, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and vaccines through its Sanofi Pasteur division. Sanofi sells products to hospitals, clinics, governments and retail pharmacies, with a broad global footprint and significant presence in Europe, North America and emerging markets.

Key commercial offerings include specialty biologics and established small-molecule medicines.