Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 9,807 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 373,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,807 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $24,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Creative Planning boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 30,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,500,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $276,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 46,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 11,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 190,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,492,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Compass Point downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $79.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.30.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $60.51 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.38. Synchrony Financial has a 12 month low of $39.67 and a 12 month high of $70.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 11.71%.

Synchrony Financial 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.