Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Position Reduced by DLD Asset Management LP

DLD Asset Management LP reduced its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 66.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,635 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,765 shares during the quarter. DLD Asset Management LP's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Norges Bank purchased 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 acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $351,766,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 290,937 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $39,067,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $38,489,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Monday, hitting $147.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,392,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,102,589. The business has a fifty day moving average of $181.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.43. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $119.31 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The firm has a market cap of $37.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.28, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" 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 raised their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $192.40.

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.