Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires 36,588 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 68.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,588 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $5,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $347,903,000. 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 during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $41,088,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,083,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,756,000 after buying an additional 481,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 71.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,130,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,378,000 after buying an additional 469,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upgraded Synchrony Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $59.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Synchrony Financial from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.10.

Synchrony Financial Trading Down 3.3 %

SYF opened at $52.39 on Monday. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $39.67 and a 1-year high of $70.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a PE ratio of 6.13, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.62.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.02. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.71%.

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.