Geode Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Geode Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,908,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 213,331 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $830,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,080,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,698,000 after acquiring an additional 191,920 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 5.4% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,335,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,517,000 after acquiring an additional 739,832 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 8.3% in 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 buying an additional 406,796 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,134,903 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $431,999,000 after buying an additional 592,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 48.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,349,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,001,000 after buying an additional 1,416,909 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SYF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Synchrony Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $84.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on Synchrony Financial in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 51,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $3,651,107.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,449,656.72. This trade represents a 27.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Alberto Casellas sold 14,399 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total value of $974,956.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 50,331 shares in the company, valued at $3,407,912.01. This trade represents a 22.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 374,630 shares of company stock worth $25,731,741. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Price Performance

SYF opened at $71.44 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a 1 year low of $56.51 and a 1 year high of $88.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 7.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.37.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.13. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Synchrony Financial has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.100-9.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.41%.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 21st that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.