Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 52,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,973 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Synchrony Financial by 402.8% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,739,000 after buying an additional 1,217,872 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $41,088,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,917,000 after buying an additional 727,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 400.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 842,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,751,000 after acquiring an additional 674,093 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Synchrony Financial

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at $8,291,879.13. This trade represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on SYF shares. Compass Point boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $72.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.53.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF opened at $67.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.88 and a 200-day moving average of $52.59. The company has a market cap of $26.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $35.29 and a 1 year high of $69.39.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.17. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. Synchrony Financial’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.05%.

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.