New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $20.30 Million Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 27,300 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of Discover Financial Services worth $20,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Inlet Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.4% during the third quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,478,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded up $2.71 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $151.85. 1,467,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,631,244. The stock's fifty day moving average is $140.91 and its 200 day moving average is $133.07. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $82.15 and a 12 month high of $157.06. The stock has a market cap of $38.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.41. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.28 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.81.

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.