Financial Advocates Investment Management Decreases Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Financial Advocates Investment Management lessened its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 299 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after buying an additional 56,814 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,202,000 after acquiring an additional 10,946 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $282,000. Meyer Handelman Co. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,415,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.5 %

DFS stock opened at $199.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.89 and a 200-day moving average of $158.54. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $106.65 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.64.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.