Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,102,119 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,686,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,652,000 after purchasing an additional 238,498 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,337,000 after purchasing an additional 20,333 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,233,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,473,000 after buying an additional 526,951 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 239.6% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,027,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,912,000 after buying an additional 1,430,637 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $123.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.43. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $131.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $124.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.29.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. Analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.86 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given 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 is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.29.

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.