Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 200,077 Shares of Sanofi $SNY

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) by 3,426.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 205,917 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 200,077 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Sanofi were worth $9,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Sanofi by 81.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,879,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,058,000 after acquiring an additional 2,635,867 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of Sanofi in the fourth quarter worth about $79,960,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Sanofi by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,102,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540,271 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sanofi by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,100,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Sanofi by 422.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,062,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,165,000 after purchasing an additional 859,246 shares during the last quarter. 14.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SNY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sanofi in a report on Monday, April 13th. Argus upgraded Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 target price on Sanofi in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Sanofi from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Sanofi Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:SNY opened at $41.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $101.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.34. Sanofi has a 12 month low of $40.89 and a 12 month high of $52.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

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

About Sanofi

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.