GAMMA Investing LLC Has $539,000 Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 313,128 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,917,000 after purchasing an additional 727,649 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,830,000 after purchasing an additional 157,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 18.7% in the second 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 2.3 %

SYF opened at $66.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.64. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $35.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.39.

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

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.05%.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SYF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BTIG Research downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.63.

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.