DRW Securities LLC Raises Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

DRW Securities LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 57.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,141 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $724,720,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at $351,766,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $515,268,000 after buying an additional 826,287 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 208.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 561,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $97,252,000 after buying an additional 379,673 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,377,961,000 after buying an additional 290,937 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $188.40.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:DFS traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $156.51. The company had a trading volume of 280,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,577,008. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $175.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.09. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $119.31 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 company has a market capitalization of $39.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. As a group, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio 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.