Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Holdings Trimmed by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 629,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,318 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $40,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 22.7% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 957,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,773,000 after buying an additional 177,051 shares in the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $951,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 443,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,917,000 after acquiring an additional 36,865 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 119.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 243,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,123,000 after purchasing an additional 132,047 shares during the period. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $544,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYF has been the topic of several research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.45.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

SYF opened at $67.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.64. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $35.29 and a 12-month high of $69.39.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 13.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. This represents 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.

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.