Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 1,897 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,897 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $5,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth $2,415,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 12,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 4,684 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 27.4% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 14.0% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $163.71 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $119.31 and a twelve month high of $205.76. 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 company has a market cap of $41.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $188.22 and its 200 day moving average is $167.66.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

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.