Meeder Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Meeder Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,595,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $907,356,000 after purchasing an additional 3,494,741 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 8.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,307,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,194,000 after purchasing an additional 406,796 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Synchrony Financial in the second quarter worth about $299,360,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,266,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $284,737,000 after buying an additional 245,527 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,209,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,672,000 after buying an additional 335,239 shares in the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SYF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $78.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $95.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Synchrony Financial from $86.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $92.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.89.

Synchrony Financial Stock Down 0.9%

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

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.64. The firm 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Announces Dividend

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

Synchrony Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Synchrony Financial

In other news, insider Darrell Owens sold 2,989 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.02, for a total transaction of $221,245.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,425.92. This represents a 15.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.80, for a total transaction of $2,329,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 127,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,252,880. The trade was a 20.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 55,075 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,892 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.