Toronto Dominion Bank Decreases Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Toronto Dominion Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,942 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $16,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DFS. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 135.1% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 4,478 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 57.6% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 25,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,855,000 after acquiring an additional 9,287 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the first quarter worth approximately $983,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,968,000 after purchasing an additional 251,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 61.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,197,000 after purchasing an additional 23,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DFS. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE DFS opened at $138.30 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $147.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $34.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $134.63 and its 200 day moving average is $128.98.

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

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 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.