BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Acquires 132,143 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 34.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 521,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 132,143 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.13% of Synchrony Financial worth $25,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 23.8% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 99,461 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,694,000 after acquiring an additional 19,098 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,192,000. National Pension Service lifted 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 purchasing an additional 177,051 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 35.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,300,576 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $56,082,000 after purchasing an additional 342,979 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 17.2% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 287,547 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,569,000 after buying an additional 42,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. BTIG Research cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.43.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 127,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,291,879.13. This represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of SYF opened at $65.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $29.15 and a one year high of $67.76. The company has a market cap of $25.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 13.05%.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

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.