DRW Securities LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

DRW Securities LLC reduced its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. National Pension Service raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,693,000 after purchasing an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $983,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,415,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,197,000 after purchasing an additional 23,702 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $179.29 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $45.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $85.19 and a 52-week high of $188.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $152.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

About Discover Financial Services

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.