Short Interest in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) Rises By 16.1%

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,740,000 shares, an increase of 16.1% from the February 13th total of 2,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sanofi

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Sanofi by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Sanofi by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its position in Sanofi by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 5,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in Sanofi by 5.2% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its position in Sanofi by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 3,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.04% of the company’s stock.

Sanofi Price Performance

NASDAQ:SNY opened at $47.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.75. The company has a market cap of $120.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.54. Sanofi has a 52-week low of $36.91 and a 52-week high of $58.10.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.03). The company 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sanofi will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sanofi Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $1.377 per share. This represents a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. Sanofi’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Sanofi

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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.