Foster & Motley Inc. Purchases Shares of 19,421 Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Foster & Motley Inc. bought a new position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $742,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SYF. Duality Advisers LP raised its position in Synchrony Financial by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 150,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,732,000 after purchasing an additional 9,163 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new position in Synchrony Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 37,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 4,694 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Synchrony Financial by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 2,606 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Trading Up 1.7 %

Synchrony Financial stock opened at $42.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.64. Synchrony Financial has a 52-week low of $26.59 and a 52-week high of $43.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 17.37% and a net margin of 10.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SYF shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Synchrony Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Synchrony Financial from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Synchrony Financial in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,183 shares in the company, valued at $552,995.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider David P. Melito sold 7,283 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.99, for a total transaction of $283,964.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $552,995.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Curtis Howse sold 6,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $264,584.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 152,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,534,503.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,158 shares of company stock worth $6,106,106. 0.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Synchrony Financial Profile

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.