New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 2.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 488,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,933 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $23,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 995.4% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,599,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,448,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088,262 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter worth $182,739,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in Synchrony Financial by 66.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,892,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548,180 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Synchrony Financial by 362.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,981,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,685,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,266,000 after buying an additional 674,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $48.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Synchrony Financial has a twelve month low of $27.30 and a twelve month high of $52.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.08.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.20. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The company had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total transaction of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,390 shares in the company, valued at $2,510,987.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Baird R W raised Synchrony Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.41.

Synchrony Financial 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.