Czech National Bank Increases Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Czech National Bank raised its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,418 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,907 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $5,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 47.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 27,210 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 8,732 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 564.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 194,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,170,000 after acquiring an additional 165,090 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,686,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $315,381,000 after acquiring an additional 313,128 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 66.0% during the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 13,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 5,186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SYF. UBS Group increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price target on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $72.50 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

NYSE SYF traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $67.77. 2,214,436 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,521,884. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $66.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.74. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $35.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $26.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.64.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm's revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.05%.

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.