Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Sold by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 48.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 75,996 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $5,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,963,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $650,678,000 after acquiring an additional 205,641 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,509,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,105,000 after purchasing an additional 380,870 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $347,903,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,183,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $336,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,602,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,157,000 after buying an additional 471,958 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI lowered 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on Synchrony Financial from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Compass Point lowered Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.95.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:SYF opened at $55.62 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $40.55 and a 12-month high of $70.93. The firm has a market cap of $21.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.17.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 16.46%.

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.