Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Position Cut by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,638,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 342,026 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.65% of Discover Financial Services worth $283,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,472,771,000 after purchasing an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after buying an additional 558,227 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $351,766,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,391,000 after buying an additional 12,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on DFS shares. 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 note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock opened at $190.36 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $205.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

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; 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.