DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Decreases Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,948 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $7,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $340,672,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,597,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $743,663,000 after buying an additional 3,102,119 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 489.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,999,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,307,000 after buying an additional 1,660,180 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,927,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $482,042,000 after buying an additional 1,293,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palestra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $81,865,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DFS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.22.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $123.10 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.96). The business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.24% and a net margin of 14.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.89%.

Insider Transactions at Discover Financial Services

In related news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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; private student loans, 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.