BlackRock Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)

BlackRock Inc. cut its stake in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY – Get Rating) by 19.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,411,618 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,566,602 shares during the quarter. BlackRock Inc.’s holdings in Sanofi were worth $395,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Sanofi during the first quarter worth $26,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sanofi in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sanofi during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sanofi by 53.2% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 855 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sanofi during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 10.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sanofi Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ SNY opened at $47.05 on Friday. Sanofi has a twelve month low of $36.91 and a twelve month high of $58.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.08 and its 200-day moving average is $44.45. The stock has a market cap of $118.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.54.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $10.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.51 billion. Sanofi had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 28.00%. Equities research analysts predict that Sanofi will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Sanofi Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be issued a $1.377 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. Sanofi’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet raised Sanofi from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Sanofi in a research report on Friday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Sanofi in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.88.

Sanofi Company Profile

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Sanofi engages in the research, production, and distribution of pharmaceutical products. It operates through the following business segments: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Healthcare, and Vaccines. The Pharmaceuticals segment comprises the commercial operations of the following global franchises: specialty care, diabetes and cardiovascular, established prescription products and generics, and research, development, and production activities.