Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 1,168,339 Shares of Sanofi $SNY

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) by 29.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,100,097 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,168,339 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.21% of Sanofi worth $247,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Sanofi by 1.4% during the third quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $743,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Sanofi by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 8,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sanofi by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Sanofi by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 9,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Sanofi by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 14.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SNY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 price target on shares of Sanofi in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sanofi from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sanofi from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

Sanofi Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ SNY opened at $44.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $108.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $45.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.01. Sanofi has a 52-week low of $42.28 and a 52-week high of $52.68.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $2.4225 per share. This is an increase from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $2.04. This represents a yield of 559.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Sanofi’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.16%.

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.