HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 57,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,397 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $8,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Elser Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth $91,044,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted 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 worth $84,594,000 after buying an additional 508,504 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,199,000 after buying an additional 245,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 478,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,606,000 after buying an additional 192,142 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.33.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $179.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $96.46 and a 1 year high of $188.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.75. The firm has a market cap of $45.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

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; 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.