Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lowered its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,111 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $6,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 56.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 127.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 8,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,522 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,748,000. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 878,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $123,198,000 after acquiring an additional 18,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $162.05 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.49. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $119.31 and a twelve month high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DFS. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

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.