Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock Holdings Decreased by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 59,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,739 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $7,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DFS. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Optas LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.3% during the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.1% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 2,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price target on 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Thirteen equities research 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.com, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $133.90 on Tuesday. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $147.61. The firm has a market cap of $33.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $134.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.54 earnings per share. Discover Financial Services’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

About Discover Financial Services

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; private student loans, 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.