Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 930,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 133,114 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $161,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $24,408,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 73.4% in the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 14,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after acquiring an additional 6,179 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,240,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,082,826,000 after acquiring an additional 165,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $146.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $119.31 and a 52-week high of $205.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $181.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.95.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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. 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.