Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation cut its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 257 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 56.5% in 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. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 239.6% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,027,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430,637 shares during the last quarter. Palestra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $81,865,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 336.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,133,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,220,000 after acquiring an additional 874,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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 last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on 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. HSBC upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $125.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $31.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.25. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.93%.

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; 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.