Raymond James & Associates Boosts Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 29.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 325,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 74,080 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.08% of Synchrony Financial worth $12,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 8.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 16,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after buying an additional 7,753 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 69,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.3% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 101,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,520,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 0.9% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 962,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,493,000 after acquiring an additional 8,110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SYF. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.31.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,534,503.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $41.21 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.53. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $26.59 and a 52 week high of $43.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.10. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.31%.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, and sweep and affinity deposits, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms.