Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires 4,449 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 32,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,449 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,917,000 after acquiring an additional 727,649 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 157,948 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,756,000 after buying an additional 481,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 1.7% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,199,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,714,000 after buying an additional 37,484 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. The trade was a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SYF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.45.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.4 %

SYF opened at $68.73 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $35.29 and a 1-year high of $69.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.97.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.05%.

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.