City Center Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

City Center Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. City Center Advisors LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SYF. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 389.8% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,088,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,917,000 after buying an additional 727,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 589.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 644,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,133,000 after buying an additional 550,750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SYF. Morgan Stanley raised Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $63.77 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $35.29 and a 1-year high of $69.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.64.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 13.05%.

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.