DAVENPORT & Co LLC trimmed its position in shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF – Get Rating) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 613 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in Synchrony Financial were worth $6,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SYF. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 72.9% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 10,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 4,361 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 102,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 5,771 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,545,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,231,453,000 after acquiring an additional 313,449 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 21,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 163.6% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 365,801 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,969,000 after acquiring an additional 227,034 shares in the last quarter. 94.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SYF shares. TheStreet cut Synchrony Financial from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Synchrony Financial from $64.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Synchrony Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Synchrony Financial from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Synchrony Financial from $40.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.93.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. Synchrony Financial had a return on equity of 27.06% and a net margin of 22.76%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Synchrony Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Synchrony Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Synchrony Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.43%.

Synchrony Financial Profile

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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 cards, 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 to retail and commercial customers, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms.

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