Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Grows Stock Position in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,329 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,461 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Sanofi were worth $1,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SNY. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sanofi by 29.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,838,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,279,000 after purchasing an additional 651,756 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in Sanofi by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 2,528,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,618,000 after acquiring an additional 346,563 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Sanofi by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,322,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,796,000 after acquiring an additional 323,968 shares during the period. Clough Capital Partners L P acquired a new position in Sanofi in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,719,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Sanofi in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,533,000. 10.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SNY. TheStreet lowered Sanofi from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com lowered Sanofi from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Sanofi in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sanofi presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.00.

Sanofi Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of SNY stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $49.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 55,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,013,905. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.16. Sanofi has a 12-month low of $42.63 and a 12-month high of $55.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.05). Sanofi had a return on equity of 19.69% and a net margin of 10.52%. The firm had revenue of $11.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.02 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Sanofi will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.478 per share. This is an increase from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $1.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 2.98%. Sanofi’s payout ratio is 73.87%.

Sanofi Company 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.