Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) Short Interest Down 16.9% in April

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,240,000 shares, a drop of 16.9% from the March 31st total of 3,900,000 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Sanofi

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Sanofi by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,820 shares of the company's stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sanofi in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Sanofi by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,876 shares of the company's stock worth $101,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in Sanofi by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 8,795 shares of the company's stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sanofi by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 7,036 shares of the company's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 10.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on SNY shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Sanofi in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Sanofi from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Sanofi from a "b" rating to a "c" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.00.

Sanofi Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SNY traded down $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.13. 4,148,180 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,214,580. Sanofi has a 1 year low of $42.63 and a 1 year high of $56.26. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $47.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $124.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.61.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.05). Sanofi had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 19.69%. The company had revenue of $11.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.02 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sanofi will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.478 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.98%. This is a boost from Sanofi's previous annual dividend of $1.38. Sanofi's payout ratio is presently 69.35%.

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.