SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 49.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 47,550 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 853.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,218,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $216,471,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,481 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $151,220,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 158.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,095,762 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $94,609,000 after buying an additional 1,900,216 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $61,172,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 331.0% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,894,499 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $55,092,000 after buying an additional 1,454,927 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Synchrony Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.24.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of SYF stock traded up $0.84 on Thursday, reaching $43.12. 4,141,893 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,518,288. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $26.59 and a 52 week high of $43.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.61. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $40.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.22.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 17.37% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $552,995.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $552,995.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,534,503.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

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.