Atria Investments Inc Increases Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,394 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.5% in the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,019,000. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 78,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,234 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE DFS opened at $167.38 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $42.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $119.31 and a 12-month high of $205.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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.