LPL Financial LLC Has $6.89 Million Stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 130,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,069 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $6,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RWC Asset Management LLP raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 558.4% in the first quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 57,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,038,000 after purchasing an additional 48,662 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 512,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,136,000 after buying an additional 66,543 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 15,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Synchrony Financial by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 235,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,457,000 after buying an additional 79,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Darrell Owens sold 600 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.95, for a total transaction of $40,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,227.40. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 8,514 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $595,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 68,588 shares in the company, valued at $4,801,160. This represents a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,133 shares of company stock worth $3,817,635 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $69.36 on Monday. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $40.54 and a 1-year high of $73.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $66.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.09. The company has a market cap of $25.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.78. The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 21.34%. Synchrony Financial’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, August 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $52.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.05.

Synchrony Financial 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.