Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Decreases Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators reduced its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 518 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 30,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,500,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 84.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 31.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 386,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,297,000 after acquiring an additional 92,196 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 14.5% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 2.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SYF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Compass Point cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.30.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 3.9 %

NYSE SYF opened at $61.35 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $39.35 and a one year high of $70.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.06.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. Equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is 11.71%.

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.