Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Sells 9,720 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,685 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,720 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 22.7% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the second quarter valued at about $951,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 9.1% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 443,251 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,917,000 after purchasing an additional 36,865 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 119.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 243,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,123,000 after purchasing an additional 132,047 shares during the period. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $544,000. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. The trade was a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SYF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.43.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $65.80. 2,729,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,502,709. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $35.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.39. The company has a market cap of $25.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The company's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.