New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $24.02 Million Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 138,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $24,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $194.21 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $118.74 and a 52-week high of $205.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.