Moors & Cabot Inc. Has $627,000 Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,149 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 4,684 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 27.4% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 2,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $164.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.82. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $119.31 and a 12-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.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

Discover Financial Services Company Profile

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.