Cinctive Capital Management LP Decreases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Cinctive Capital Management LP decreased its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,503 shares during the quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $11,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.1 %

DFS opened at $182.43 on Monday. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $89.58 and a 12 month high of $188.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. On average, 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.