Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys New Stake in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 7,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $663,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 35,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,884,000 after acquiring an additional 9,460 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 6,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 337.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 56.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SYF shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Compass Point upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $91.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.42.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 0.0%

SYF stock opened at $68.45 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 12-month low of $40.54 and a 12-month high of $88.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $69.75 and its 200 day moving average is $74.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.39.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 15.72%.The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Bart Schaller sold 12,980 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total transaction of $878,875.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 34,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,304,509.85. The trade was a 27.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alberto Casellas sold 14,399 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total transaction of $974,956.29. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 50,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,407,912.01. The trade was a 22.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 379,928 shares of company stock worth $26,170,764 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

About Synchrony Financial

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.