Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Price Target Raised to $72.50 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $64.00 to $72.50 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the financial services provider's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price suggests a potential upside of 13.90% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on SYF. Bank of America raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.43.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of SYF stock traded down $0.40 on Tuesday, hitting $63.65. The stock had a trading volume of 4,105,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,981,904. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. The stock's 50 day moving average is $54.69 and its 200-day moving average is $49.36. 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 has a 52-week low of $29.15 and a 52-week high of $67.76.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of Synchrony Financial 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 transaction, the insider now owns 127,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Boston Partners lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $229,448,000 after buying an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 402.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $71,739,000 after buying an additional 1,217,872 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 389.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares during the period. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,088,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

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.