D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 916 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $194.21 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $118.74 and a 52 week high of $205.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.

Discover Financial Services Company Profile

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.