Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 629,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,318 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.16% of Synchrony Financial worth $40,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 177,051 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $951,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 36,865 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in 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 worth $12,123,000 after buying an additional 132,047 shares during the period. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $544,000. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $68.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,326,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,504,106. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $35.29 and a 52 week high of $69.39. The company has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is 13.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded Synchrony Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Seven 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.45.

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.