Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 14,665 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 558,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,665 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Discover Financial Services worth $78,378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,692,000 after buying an additional 62,595 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,064,000 after buying an additional 73,902 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after buying an additional 6,042 shares during the period. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the second quarter valued at about $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 368.0% during the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,594,000 after buying an additional 508,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $173.76 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $84.00 and a 1 year high of $188.26. The firm has a market cap of $43.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.31.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

Discover Financial Services Profile

Discover Financial Services, through its subsidiaries, provides digital banking products and services, and payment services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Digital Banking and Payment Services. The Digital Banking segment offers Discover-branded credit cards to individuals; personal loans, home loans, and other consumer lending; and direct-to-consumer deposit products comprising savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, IRA certificates of deposit, IRA savings accounts and checking accounts, and sweep accounts.