Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 1,168,339 Shares of Sanofi $SNY

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,100,097 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,168,339 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Sanofi were worth $247,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sanofi during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sanofi during the third quarter worth $29,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sanofi during the third quarter worth $30,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sanofi by 544.4% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 696 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Sanofi by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 810 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Sanofi from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Argus raised shares of Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Sanofi from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Sanofi in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $52.00 target price on shares of Sanofi in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sanofi has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

Sanofi Stock Performance

Shares of SNY opened at $44.73 on Wednesday. Sanofi has a 12 month low of $42.28 and a 12 month high of $52.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

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

Sanofi 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.