Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,111 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $6,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.5% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,792 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 127.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 8,067 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,522 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,748,000. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 878,164 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $123,198,000 after buying an additional 18,670 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded up $5.39 during trading on Monday, hitting $170.22. 1,674,620 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,411,281. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $119.31 and a fifty-two 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $186.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share 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 1.64%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.