Private Advisor Group LLC Has $2.57 Million Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $351,766,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,199,000 after acquiring an additional 245,829 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $39,067,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth $21,169,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $193.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $187.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.95. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $205.76. The firm has a market cap of $48.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 17.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.91.

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.