ING Groep NV Sells 18,341 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

ING Groep NV lowered its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 18,341 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $167,692,000 after purchasing an additional 62,595 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,064,000 after buying an additional 73,902 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $152,066,000 after acquiring an additional 6,042 shares during the period. Elser Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $84,594,000 after acquiring an additional 508,504 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock traded up $2.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $176.07. 3,174,543 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,199,510. The stock has a market cap of $44.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's fifty day moving average is $147.90 and its 200-day moving average is $135.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $84.03 and a 12 month high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.23 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.60%.

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.