LPL Financial LLC Purchases 142,290 Shares of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,284,096 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 142,290 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Sanofi were worth $61,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sanofi during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $135,933,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Sanofi by 86.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,396,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,607,000 after purchasing an additional 2,501,073 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Sanofi by 104.3% in the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 3,340,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705,148 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sanofi by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,295,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,715,000 after purchasing an additional 664,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Sanofi by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,943,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,774,000 after buying an additional 514,542 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Sanofi to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Sanofi from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Sanofi from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Sanofi in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Sanofi Price Performance

SNY stock opened at $54.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.83. Sanofi has a 52-week low of $45.22 and a 52-week high of $60.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.58.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. Sanofi had a return on equity of 25.61% and a net margin of 12.77%. Equities research analysts forecast that Sanofi will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sanofi Company Profile

Sanofi, a healthcare company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of therapeutic solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, 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.