Hsbc Holdings PLC Raises Stock Position in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY - Free Report) by 258.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,033 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,263 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Sanofi were worth $1,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Sanofi by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,174 shares of the company's stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in Sanofi by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 409,290 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,740,000 after purchasing an additional 27,330 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sanofi by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 241,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,643,000 after purchasing an additional 10,865 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sanofi by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 164,538 shares of the company's stock worth $7,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,198 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Sanofi by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 895,324 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,181,000 after purchasing an additional 44,027 shares during the last quarter. 14.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SNY shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Sanofi to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Sanofi in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Sanofi to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Sanofi from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Sanofi in a report on Friday, March 21st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sanofi presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $63.33.

Sanofi Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ SNY traded down $1.22 on Wednesday, reaching $51.93. 458,181 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,348,938. Sanofi has a 12 month low of $45.80 and a 12 month high of $60.12. The company has a market cap of $131.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 billion. Sanofi had a return on equity of 25.61% and a net margin of 12.77%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sanofi will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $2.0369 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Sanofi's previous annual dividend of $1.48. Sanofi's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

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.