Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 561,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,134 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.22% of Discover Financial Services worth $97,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,472,771,000 after purchasing an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,051,314,000 after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% during the 3rd 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 worth $257,391,000 after acquiring an additional 12,255 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $242,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,063,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $149,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 3.3 %

DFS stock traded down $6.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $188.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,948,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,540,502. The company has a market cap of $47.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. The business's 50 day moving average price is $183.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $107.10 and a 12 month high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is 17.54%.

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.