Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Position Lessened by Lynch & Associates IN

Lynch & Associates IN cut its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,387 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,570 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DFS. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 3,445.0% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,991 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 5,822 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 274.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the period. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,059,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.9% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 101,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,865 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.7% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 27,395 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,584,000 after buying an additional 2,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DFS. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $233.00 price target for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $160.07.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS traded down $6.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $169.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,567,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,177,755. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.35. The firm has a market cap of $42.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $96.46 and a 1-year high of $188.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.60%.

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.