New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 23,589 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 189,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,589 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of Discover Financial Services worth $21,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 105.8% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $127.70 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.38. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.29.

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; private student loans, 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.