14,423 Shares in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Purchased by Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,498,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,472,771,000 after purchasing an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $351,766,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,391,000 after acquiring an additional 12,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,738,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,213,000 after acquiring an additional 10,528 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS opened at $164.67 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $187.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $119.31 and a 52 week high of $205.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.

Discover Financial Services 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.