Simplicity Wealth LLC Grows Position in Synchrony Financial $SYF

Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its position in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 81.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,301 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $1,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Synchrony Financial by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 54.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.1% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 5.5% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 3.4% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 96.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Mothner sold 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.80, for a total value of $2,329,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 127,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,252,880. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.93, for a total value of $591,440.00. Following the sale, the director owned 35,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,402.17. This represents a 18.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,075 shares of company stock worth $4,036,892. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SYF shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $78.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Robert W. Baird downgraded Synchrony Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Synchrony Financial from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Synchrony Financial from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.47.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SYF stock opened at $78.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Synchrony Financial has a one year low of $40.54 and a one year high of $88.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.72 and its 200 day moving average is $75.47.

Synchrony Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 15th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Synchrony Financial

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.