19,739 Shares in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Acquired by Unigestion Holding SA

Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 19,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $985,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its holdings 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 worth $229,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 402.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,217,872 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 389.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 1,138,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,797,000 after purchasing an additional 906,172 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,088,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of Synchrony Financial stock opened at $66.90 on Wednesday. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $35.12 and a twelve month high of $69.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $26.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.55.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 13.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $62.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total transaction of $1,209,221.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total value of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 127,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. This represents a 21.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.