1,885 Shares in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Purchased by Central Pacific Bank Trust Division

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $123,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,686,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $315,381,000 after acquiring an additional 313,128 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $264,917,000 after purchasing an additional 727,649 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 37.9% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,447,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,830,000 after buying an additional 157,948 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 18.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,131,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,599,000 after buying an additional 492,312 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 34,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $2,220,253.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 127,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,291,879.13. This represents a 21.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 21,934 shares of Synchrony Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $1,209,221.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,498,831.59. This trade represents a 18.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 2.3 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $66.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Synchrony Financial has a fifty-two week low of $35.29 and a fifty-two week high of $69.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.49. The firm has a market cap of $26.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.64.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Synchrony Financial will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SYF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Compass Point raised their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $60.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.63.

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.