Lynch & Associates IN Sells 7,570 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Lynch & Associates IN decreased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% during the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after acquiring an additional 508,504 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,199,000 after acquiring an additional 245,829 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 67.1% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 478,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,606,000 after purchasing an additional 192,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $21,169,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 3.5 %

NYSE DFS traded down $6.11 on Friday, hitting $169.76. 1,567,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,176,771. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $96.46 and a 52-week high of $188.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $174.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.06.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.07.

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.