Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Lowers Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 212,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $36,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DFS. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after purchasing an additional 508,504 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,199,000 after buying an additional 245,829 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 67.1% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth $21,169,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.75.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DFS traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $188.43. The company had a trading volume of 50,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,132,516. The stock has a market cap of $47.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $96.46 and a 52 week high of $188.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $176.40 and its 200-day moving average is $151.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 22.08%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 14.17 earnings per share for the current year.

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.