Amalgamated Bank Reduces Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 49,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,147 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $6,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 49,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,437,000 after purchasing an additional 13,093 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.4% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $884,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 97.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $182.55 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $142.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $82.15 and a 52 week high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st 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 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

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.