Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires 15,733 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,733 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $6,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SYF. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 10.5% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 31.5% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 4,732 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 73.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 23.8% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 99,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,694,000 after purchasing an additional 19,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 134.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE SYF opened at $68.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $35.29 and a 52 week high of $69.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.18.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price objective on Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.53.

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.