Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Bought by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 16.0% during the third 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 period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,973,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,040,000 after purchasing an additional 178,344 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 4.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,707,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,336,000 after purchasing an additional 145,466 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,422,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,635,000 after purchasing an additional 16,817 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 3,282,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $125,340,000 after purchasing an additional 371,304 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SYF. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.74.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

SYF stock opened at $45.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.49. The company has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.54, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.58. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $26.59 and a twelve month high of $45.91.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $5.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 13.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 660,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

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.