Xponance Inc. Has $3.55 Million Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Xponance Inc. reduced its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $340,672,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings 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 increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 489.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,999,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,307,000 after buying an additional 1,660,180 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in 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 valued at $482,042,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palestra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $81,865,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on DFS shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.9 %

DFS stock opened at $125.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $131.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $122.02 and its 200-day moving average is $106.16.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

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; 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.