Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Has $2.52 Million Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 47.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 49,088 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $2,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 786.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 56.6% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SYF. TD Cowen increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BTIG Research began coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays increased 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, JMP Securities increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.50.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of SYF stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $44.29. The company had a trading volume of 4,058,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,197,332. The firm has a market cap of $17.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.63. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $27.30 and a 1-year high of $52.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.55 and a 200 day moving average of $43.39.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 16.06% and a net margin of 13.52%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. Synchrony Financial’s payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.