Marshall Wace LLP Acquires Shares of 9,415 Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SYF. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,686,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $315,381,000 after purchasing an additional 313,128 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,892,000 after buying an additional 2,548,180 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Synchrony Financial by 2.9% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,496,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $150,748,000 after buying an additional 97,235 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,131,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,599,000 after purchasing an additional 492,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,790,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,668,000 after purchasing an additional 142,306 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $51.58 on Friday. Synchrony Financial has a 52 week low of $27.30 and a 52 week high of $52.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.03. 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 company has a market cap of $20.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.61.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.20. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial 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 value of $47,281.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,510,987.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the 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 directly owns 49,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total value of $3,490,637.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.43.

Synchrony Financial 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.