Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,578 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,063 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $7,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 11,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Invst LLC boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Invst LLC now owns 20,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 810 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 103,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,697,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $70.30. The stock had a trading volume of 886,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,844,846. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $40.55 and a 12-month high of $71.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.60 and a 200-day moving average of $59.79. The company has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.46.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.26. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 19.68% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. This is a boost from Synchrony Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is presently 16.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SYF shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $48.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Synchrony Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 146,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,807,943.96. The trade was a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 11,380 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 108,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,024,030. The trade was a 9.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.