Lynch & Associates IN Cuts Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Lynch & Associates IN decreased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,570 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3,445.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 5,822 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 274.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares during the period. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,059,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 101,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.7% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 27,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,646 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 3.5 %

Discover Financial Services stock traded down $6.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $169.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,567,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,176,771. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $96.46 and a 1 year high of $188.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $174.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46. 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 (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on DFS. Barclays raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $137.00 to $186.00 in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $233.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.07.

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.