Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,183,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $724,720,000. Norges Bank owned 1.66% of Discover Financial Services as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.
Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.1 %
Shares of DFS traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $170.55. The company had a trading volume of 785,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,996,785. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $42.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $184.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.62. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $119.31 and a 52 week high of $205.76.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.
Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
DFS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" 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 boosted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $192.40.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on DFS
About Discover Financial Services
(
Free Report)
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.
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