Swiss National Bank Trims Stock Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,172,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Synchrony Financial worth $58,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter worth about $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 83.6% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $63.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a PE ratio of 8.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.36. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $29.15 and a 52 week high of $67.76. 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 (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 13.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SYF. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.43.

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.