Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $955,000 Investment in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 25,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $955,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 158.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,609,000 after buying an additional 1,900,216 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,468,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,187,000 after buying an additional 755,856 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,907,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,871,000 after buying an additional 720,587 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 99.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,306,000 after buying an additional 478,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $11,732,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SYF opened at $45.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.70. The stock has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.61. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $26.59 and a 1-year high of $45.16.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.10. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 10.68% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,995.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,995.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total transaction of $5,557,556.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Synchrony Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.44.

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.