Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 14,588 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,734 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,588 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $21,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $587,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 8.1% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 73.8% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,373 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $170.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,709,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,519,089. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $119.31 and a one year high of $205.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $183.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.89.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. 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 1.64%. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is 17.54%.

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.