Sienna Gestion Buys 43,472 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sienna Gestion lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 1,146.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 43,472 shares during the quarter. Sienna Gestion's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $8,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 12,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,684 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,179 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of DFS stock traded up $5.92 on Tuesday, hitting $158.91. 3,734,093 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,401,829. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $119.31 and a one year high of $205.76. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $187.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

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, 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

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.