Assetmark Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 0.9% in Q1, holding 4.34 million shares valued at about $295.1 million. The filing shows Assetmark now owns roughly 1.29% of the company.
• Insider selling occurred when executive Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares for about $3.65 million under a pre-arranged trading plan. After the sale, he still held 132,664 shares.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive on SYF, with 12 Buy ratings and 8 Hold ratings and a consensus target price of $87.32. The company also recently beat quarterly EPS expectations, though revenue came in below estimates.

Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,338,604 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,114 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. owned about 1.29% of Synchrony Financial worth $295,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 132,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research downgraded Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.32.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SYF opened at $74.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock's fifty day moving average is $73.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.32. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $63.08 and a fifty-two week high of $88.77.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.13. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.80%.The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 9.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 21st that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is 12.41%.

Synchrony Financial Profile

Synchrony Financial NYSE: SYF is a consumer financial services company that specializes in providing point-of-sale financing and private-label, co-branded and branded credit card programs. The company serves as a payments and lending partner to retailers, digital merchants and service providers, offering consumer financing solutions designed to drive customer engagement and sales. Synchrony also operates a direct bank that offers deposit products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit, which support its funding and customer-facing product suite.

Its core product set includes private-label and co-branded credit cards, general-purpose credit cards, installment loan programs and promotional financing options that are integrated into merchants' checkout experiences.

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