Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 666,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 71,508 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $115,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $724,720,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $351,766,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,377,961,000 after acquiring an additional 290,937 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,067,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,489,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.1 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $175.81 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. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.92. The company has a market capitalization of $44.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

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 return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DFS shares. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

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.