Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Purchased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,671 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.05% of Synchrony Financial worth $10,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 35.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,300,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,082,000 after purchasing an additional 342,979 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.7% during the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 12,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 136.5% during the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 50,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 29,239 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 69,554.8% during the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 29,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 29,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,465,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYF opened at $67.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.57 and a 200-day moving average of $50.08. The company has a market capitalization of $26.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.59. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $29.15 and a one year high of $67.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 13.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SYF shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Compass Point increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial 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.