Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 48,138,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,503,953 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Synchrony Financial worth $3,129,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SYF. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $452,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 119.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 243,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,123,000 after buying an additional 132,047 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 178,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,787,000 after acquiring an additional 12,492 shares in the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at about $544,000. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $423,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $55.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.47. The stock has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $39.67 and a 12-month high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SYF. Bank of America boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $40.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Compass Point cut Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.10.

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.