Northern Trust Corp Reduces Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 0.7%, now owning approximately 5.15 million shares, valued at $272.6 million.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has significantly raised its price target for Synchrony Financial from $52 to $80, reflecting a positive outlook for the stock.
• Insider trading reveals that Curtis Howse sold 11,380 shares at $65 each, marking a 9.53% decrease in his ownership of Synchrony Financial's stock.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,149,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 33,871 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.35% of Synchrony Financial worth $272,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the first quarter worth $522,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 13.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 640,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,934,000 after purchasing an additional 74,029 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 30.3% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,330 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 1.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,047,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,452,000 after purchasing an additional 18,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 3.2% in the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 52,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Darrell Owens sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.95, for a total transaction of $40,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,452,227.40. The trade was a 2.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 11,380 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 108,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,024,030. This represents a 9.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,494 shares of company stock valued at $1,376,450 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research raised 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, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $52.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Friday, August 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Synchrony Financial to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.05.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SYF traded up $1.9350 on Friday, reaching $73.1650. 3,104,450 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,253,413. The firm has a market cap of $27.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $40.54 and a fifty-two week high of $74.11.

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

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

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