Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Sanofi from overweight to equal-weight, triggering a gap down from a $46.08 close to a $43.50 open and leaving the stock trading around $43.58 (roughly a 5.4% decline).
• Multiple firms have recently cut or maintained cautious ratings—including Bank of America, BNP Paribas Exane and Weiss Ratings—resulting in a MarketBeat consensus of Hold with a $51.00 price target.
• Sanofi raised its annual dividend to $2.4225 per share (ex-dividend May 4, payable June 3), up from $2.04 and implying a payout ratio near 44.7%.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating. The stock had previously closed at $46.08, but opened at $43.50. Sanofi shares last traded at $43.5810, with a volume of 254,978 shares.

SNY has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Sanofi from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Sanofi in a report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Sanofi in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sanofi from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Sanofi from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sanofi

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sanofi in the third quarter worth about $18,244,000. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Sanofi in the third quarter worth about $1,347,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sanofi by 11.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,113,381 shares of the company's stock worth $146,952,000 after purchasing an additional 327,569 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Sanofi by 25.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 357,172 shares of the company's stock worth $16,859,000 after purchasing an additional 71,356 shares during the period. Finally, XY Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Sanofi in the third quarter worth about $1,603,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.03% of the company's stock.

Sanofi Stock Down 5.4%

The firm has a market cap of $106.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.35. The firm's fifty day moving average is $46.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a $2.4225 dividend. This represents a yield of 556.0%. This is a boost from Sanofi's previous annual dividend of $2.04. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. Sanofi's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.69%.

Sanofi Company Profile

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.

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