4,119 Shares in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Purchased by World Investment Advisors LLC

World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SYF. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,686,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $315,381,000 after acquiring an additional 313,128 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,917,000 after purchasing an additional 727,649 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,830,000 after purchasing an additional 157,948 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,131,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,599,000 after buying an additional 492,312 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SYF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.63.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE SYF opened at $64.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $35.29 and a twelve month high of $69.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $62.37 and its 200 day moving average is $52.75.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.05%.

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.