25,000 Shares in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 25,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $955,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 158.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900,216 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 16.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,468,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,187,000 after acquiring an additional 755,856 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 33.0% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,907,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,871,000 after acquiring an additional 720,587 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 99.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,306,000 after acquiring an additional 478,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,732,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on SYF shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.44.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 5.1 %

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $45.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.61. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $26.59 and a fifty-two week high of $45.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.47 and a 200 day moving average of $36.70.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.10. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 17.37% and a net margin of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

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.