Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 3,002 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 49% compared to the average volume of 2,020 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sanofi

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Sanofi by 11.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,484,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,956,000 after purchasing an additional 940,342 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Sanofi by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,102,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,093,000 after buying an additional 1,540,271 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sanofi by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,110,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,133,000 after buying an additional 313,327 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Sanofi by 81.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 5,879,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,058,000 after buying an additional 2,635,867 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Sanofi by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,100,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,151,000 after buying an additional 1,168,339 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Sanofi Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:SNY traded up $0.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $43.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,378,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,635,968. Sanofi has a 52 week low of $40.89 and a 52 week high of $52.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.45 and its 200 day moving average is $45.72. The stock has a market cap of $105.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.34.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $2.4225 per share. This represents a yield of 559.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This is an increase from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $2.04. Sanofi’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sanofi from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $49.00 price objective on shares of Sanofi in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Sanofi in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Argus raised Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.50.

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.