Meeder Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 12,013 Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth $35,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 138.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 230.5% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 76.2% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.88.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $42.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.85 and a 200-day moving average of $35.79. The company has a market cap of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $26.59 and a one year high of $43.83.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 660,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

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.