Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 4,397 Shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 70.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,397 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in Synchrony Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $823,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 47,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 43.9% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 8,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Synchrony Financial news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 40,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.07, for a total transaction of $2,441,184.73. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,628 shares in the company, valued at $8,807,943.96. This trade represents a 21.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Synchrony Financial Stock Up 2.9%

SYF stock opened at $60.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $53.53 and its 200 day moving average is $59.87. The stock has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.44. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $40.55 and a 1-year high of $70.93.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 18.30%. Sell-side analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Synchrony Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. Synchrony Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 16.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $76.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Synchrony Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.17.

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.