Ledyard National Bank Lowers Holdings in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)

Ledyard National Bank trimmed its position in Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,984 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,255 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Sanofi were worth $2,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sanofi by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,838,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,279,000 after acquiring an additional 651,756 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Sanofi by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 2,528,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,618,000 after acquiring an additional 346,563 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Sanofi by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,322,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,796,000 after acquiring an additional 323,968 shares in the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new position in shares of Sanofi in the 3rd quarter worth $14,719,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sanofi in the 3rd quarter worth $11,533,000. 10.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sanofi Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:SNY traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $49.09. 3,285,409 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,011,168. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.77 and a 200 day moving average of $48.28. Sanofi has a twelve month low of $42.63 and a twelve month high of $55.93. The company has a market capitalization of $124.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $11.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.02 billion. Sanofi had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 19.69%. On average, analysts forecast that Sanofi will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Sanofi Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.478 per share. This represents a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Sanofi’s previous annual dividend of $1.38. Sanofi’s payout ratio is presently 69.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SNY. TheStreet lowered Sanofi from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com lowered Sanofi from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Sanofi in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Sanofi Profile

Sanofi, a healthcare company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of therapeutic solutions in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare segments. The company provides specialty care, such as DUPIXENT, neurology and immunology, rare diseases, oncology, and rare blood disorders; medicines for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; and established prescription products.