Mizuho Securities USA LLC Increases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 46.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,796 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,515 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $4,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $192.40.

Remove Ads

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.6 %

DFS traded down $0.96 on Tuesday, hitting $169.17. The company had a trading volume of 921,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,381. The company's fifty day moving average price is $186.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.36. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $119.31 and a 1 year high of $205.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $42.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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.