GDS Wealth Management Sells 645 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

GDS Wealth Management trimmed its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 33,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 645 shares during the quarter. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.0% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 1.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 15,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:SYF opened at $67.52 on Tuesday. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $38.03 and a one year high of $70.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.91, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.63.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Synchrony Financial

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.