Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Sells 8,413 Shares of Synchrony Financial $SYF

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 37.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,413 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SYF. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 34.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,595,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $907,356,000 after buying an additional 3,494,741 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,307,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,194,000 after acquiring an additional 406,796 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $299,360,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,288,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,022,000 after purchasing an additional 120,045 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $84.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $30.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $76.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.37. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $40.54 and a one year high of $86.22.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 22.96% and a net margin of 15.84%.The company had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 32,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.80, for a total value of $2,329,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 127,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,252,880. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.93, for a total value of $591,440.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 35,769 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,402.17. This represents a 18.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,075 shares of company stock worth $4,036,892. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SYF shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.56.

Synchrony Financial Profile

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is a consumer financial services company that specializes in providing point-of-sale financing and private-label, co-branded and branded credit card programs. The company serves as a payments and lending partner to retailers, digital merchants and service providers, offering consumer financing solutions designed to drive customer engagement and sales. Synchrony also operates a direct bank that offers deposit products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit, which support its funding and customer-facing product suite.

Its core product set includes private-label and co-branded credit cards, general-purpose credit cards, installment loan programs and promotional financing options that are integrated into merchants’ checkout experiences.