Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 57,059 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,549,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,059 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $177,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,686,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $315,381,000 after purchasing an additional 313,128 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $264,917,000 after buying an additional 727,649 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,496,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $150,748,000 after acquiring an additional 97,235 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 18.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,131,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,599,000 after acquiring an additional 492,312 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.43.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of SYF stock opened at $65.99 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $29.15 and a one year high of $67.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $25.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.61, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.75.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 13.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.