Meeder Asset Management Inc. Sells 59,364 Shares of Synchrony Financial $SYF

Meeder Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 41.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 85,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,364 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $6,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $299,360,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 34.6% during the second 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 buying an additional 3,494,741 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 149.4% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,803,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,844,000 after buying an additional 1,080,389 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,429,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 42.8% during the 2nd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,159,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,882,000 after acquiring an additional 946,278 shares during the period. 96.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SYF. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $86.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.89.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $86.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $31.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.43. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $40.54 and a 52-week high of $88.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $79.96 and its 200 day moving average is $74.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 22.96% and a net margin of 15.84%.Synchrony Financial’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.10%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Darrell Owens sold 2,989 shares of the 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 $221,245.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,425.92. This represents a 15.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 32,000 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.80, for a total transaction of $2,329,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 127,100 shares in the company, valued at $9,252,880. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 55,075 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,892 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Synchrony Financial Profile

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) is a consumer financial services company that specializes in providing point-of-sale financing and private-label, co-branded and branded credit card programs. The company serves as a payments and lending partner to retailers, digital merchants and service providers, offering consumer financing solutions designed to drive customer engagement and sales. Synchrony also operates a direct bank that offers deposit products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit, which support its funding and customer-facing product suite.

Its core product set includes private-label and co-branded credit cards, general-purpose credit cards, installment loan programs and promotional financing options that are integrated into merchants’ checkout experiences.