Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 109,912 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,595,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 109,912 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $168,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 157,948 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 18.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 481,750 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 1.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 37,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,061,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,852,000 after acquiring an additional 158,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SYF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.30.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SYF opened at $65.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.17 and its 200-day moving average is $57.62. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $38.03 and a 12-month high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. Sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 11.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.