Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 2.9%, owning approximately 4.3 million shares valued at $227 million after acquiring an additional 120,045 shares in Q1.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Synchrony Financial, with Goldman Sachs increasing its estimate from $70 to $78 and Wells Fargo raising theirs from $75 to $80, contributing to a consensus target price of $74.05.
• Synchrony Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.6% and a payout ratio of 14.56%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,288,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 120,045 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.13% of Synchrony Financial worth $227,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. MAI Capital Management boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 36.3% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 627 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the first quarter worth about $34,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 355.9% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 693 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 89.0% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 788 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SYF. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Redburn Atlantic raised Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 11,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 108,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,024,030. This represents a 9.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 8,514 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $595,980.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 68,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,801,160. This trade represents a 11.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,494 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,450 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $74.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $27.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.08, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.38. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $40.54 and a 52 week high of $77.41.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.78. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 21.34% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is presently 14.56%.

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.

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