Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Shares Acquired by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 112.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 227,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,373 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Synchrony Financial worth $10,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 34,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 230,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,800,000 after buying an additional 15,936 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Synchrony Financial by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 12,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 148,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,670,000 after purchasing an additional 5,478 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Baird R W upgraded Synchrony Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BTIG Research cut Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.41.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 3.0 %

SYF opened at $48.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.47. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $27.30 and a 1-year high of $52.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a PE ratio of 6.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total value of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.