Traders Buy High Volume of Sanofi Put Options (NASDAQ:SNY)

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders acquired 14,850 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 370% compared to the typical volume of 3,162 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Sanofi in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sanofi in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sanofi in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Guggenheim cut Sanofi from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Sanofi in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sanofi

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Sanofi by 11.6% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 206,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,460,000 after buying an additional 21,540 shares in the last quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Sanofi by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Callodine Capital Management LP now owns 515,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,890,000 after acquiring an additional 109,240 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sanofi during the 1st quarter worth $426,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sanofi during the 1st quarter valued at about $518,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Sanofi by 2.5% in the second quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 2,512,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,376,000 after purchasing an additional 62,109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Sanofi Price Performance

NASDAQ:SNY opened at $48.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.88. Sanofi has a 12 month low of $44.62 and a 12 month high of $60.12. The firm has a market cap of $118.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The company reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $1.31. Sanofi had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 21.96%.The firm had revenue of $15.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Sanofi will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.