New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 23,589 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 189,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,589 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $21,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 105.8% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $127.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $123.80 and a 200-day moving average of $107.38. The company has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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.