Heritage Investors Management Corp Has $2.96 Million Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Heritage Investors Management Corp lessened its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 174 shares during the period. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $124.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,135,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,093,280. The stock has a market cap of $31.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.93%.

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; 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.