760 Shares in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Acquired by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $132,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.2% in the third quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.64.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.8 %

DFS opened at $201.13 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $104.08 and a 1 year high of $204.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $179.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $50.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 27.52%. Sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

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.