10,813 Shares in Synchrony Financial $SYF Bought by MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH

MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 10,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $722,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,595,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $907,356,000 after purchasing an additional 3,494,741 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,307,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,194,000 after buying an additional 406,796 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 25.0% in the first quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 5,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,700,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $299,360,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,288,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,022,000 after buying an additional 120,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Baird R W cut Synchrony Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.80, for a total transaction of $2,329,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 127,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,252,880. This trade represents a 20.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 12,086 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $894,605.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 108,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,219.42. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,075 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,892. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of SYF stock opened at $84.06 on Monday. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $40.54 and a 52-week high of $86.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.18, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.48.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 22.96% and a net margin of 15.84%.The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors 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%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.