Optas LLC Takes $254,000 Position in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)

Optas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SNY. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Sanofi by 88.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,843,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,991,000 after buying an additional 5,091,304 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sanofi in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $135,933,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in Sanofi by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,396,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,607,000 after acquiring an additional 2,501,073 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in Sanofi by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 3,340,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705,148 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Sanofi by 969.6% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 950,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,850,000 after acquiring an additional 861,770 shares during the period. 14.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SNY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Sanofi in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Sanofi in a research report on Friday, March 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Sanofi in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $56.00 price target on Sanofi in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $61.50.

Sanofi Price Performance

Shares of Sanofi stock opened at $49.67 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Sanofi has a 12 month low of $45.80 and a 12 month high of $60.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.06.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.79 billion. Sanofi had a net margin of 12.77% and a return on equity of 25.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sanofi will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $2.0369 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This is an increase from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $1.48. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Sanofi’s payout ratio is currently 56.79%.

About Sanofi

Sanofi, a healthcare company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of therapeutic solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, 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.