Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 2,693,343 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 33.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,392,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,693,343 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 1.38% of Synchrony Financial worth $350,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SYF. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $752,000. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 75,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 313,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,352,000 after acquiring an additional 36,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,609,000. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

NYSE SYF opened at $52.39 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.51. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $39.67 and a 1 year high of $70.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $20.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.13, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67.

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

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 11.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Compass Point cut shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.10.

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.