Raymond James & Associates Purchases 74,080 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Free Report) by 29.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 325,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 74,080 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.08% of Synchrony Financial worth $12,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,707,427 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,336,000 after acquiring an additional 145,466 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 51.1% during the third quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 46,331 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,416,000 after buying an additional 15,666 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,054,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,812,000 after purchasing an additional 50,495 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,422,790 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $104,635,000 after purchasing an additional 16,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the third quarter worth $800,000. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on SYF shares. Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Synchrony Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of Synchrony Financial 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 transaction, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $264,584.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 152,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,534,503.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian D. Doubles sold 134,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.26, for a total value of $5,557,556.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 660,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,246,164.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,158 shares of company stock valued at $6,106,106. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of SYF traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.17. 5,745,230 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,532,294. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $26.59 and a 12-month high of $43.83. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $40.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.57. The company has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF - Get Free Report) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 17.37% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. Research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. Synchrony Financial's payout ratio is 19.31%.

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.