8,254 Shares in Synchrony Financial $SYF Purchased by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $551,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 34.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,595,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $907,356,000 after purchasing an additional 3,494,741 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,307,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,194,000 after buying an additional 406,796 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 25.0% during the first quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,700,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the second quarter worth about $299,360,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,288,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,022,000 after acquiring an additional 120,045 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.80, for a total transaction of $2,329,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 127,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,252,880. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.93, for a total value of $591,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,402.17. This trade represents a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 55,075 shares of company stock worth $4,036,892 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $92.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $83.43 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.83. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $40.54 and a 52 week high of $86.22.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 22.96%. The company had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.10%.

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.