Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Takes $315,000 Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 1,245.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 232,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,291,000 after purchasing an additional 214,910 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the first quarter worth $375,000. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 42.9% in the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 3,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 21,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 11,380 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 108,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,024,030. The trade was a 9.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total transaction of $2,441,184.73. Following the transaction, the insider owned 146,628 shares in the company, valued at $8,807,943.96. This represents a 21.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on SYF shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $52.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $56.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.63.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:SYF opened at $70.93 on Tuesday. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $40.55 and a 52 week high of $71.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm's fifty day moving average is $61.99 and its 200-day moving average is $59.66. The firm has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.46.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.26. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 19.68%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.80 billion. Equities analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is 16.46%.

Synchrony Financial Company 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.

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