Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys 46,800 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 72.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 111,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,800 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $5,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 83.6% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related 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 transaction of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,390 shares in the company, valued at $2,510,987.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of Synchrony Financial 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 sale, the insider now owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.41.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 4.6 %

SYF stock opened at $51.86 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $27.30 and a twelve month high of $52.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.84.

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

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 14.35%.

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.