Sanofi $SNY Position Boosted by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 111,465 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,511 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sanofi were worth $5,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sanofi during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Sanofi in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Sanofi in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in Sanofi in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new stake in Sanofi in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. 14.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on SNY. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Sanofi from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Sanofi from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sanofi in a research note on Monday, April 13th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Sanofi from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 price target on Sanofi in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Sanofi Stock Performance

Shares of SNY opened at $43.77 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.25 and its 200-day moving average is $47.81. Sanofi has a 12 month low of $43.10 and a 12 month high of $53.36. The firm has a market cap of $106.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a $2.4225 dividend. This is a boost from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $2.04. This represents a yield of 559.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. Sanofi’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.44%.

About Sanofi

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.