J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Trims Stock Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lessened its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 70.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29,331 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 337.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SYF opened at $73.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.62. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $63.08 and a 1-year high of $88.77. The company has a market cap of $24.76 billion, a PE ratio of 7.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.32.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 23.41%. Synchrony Financial’s revenue was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 9.33 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 21st that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 12.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $3,651,107.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,449,656.72. This represents a 27.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.32.

About Synchrony Financial

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.