YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 1,296 Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 924,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,070,000 after purchasing an additional 147,558 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Affinity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $505,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DFS. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.64.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $199.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $179.36 and its 200 day moving average is $155.35. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $104.08 and a one year high of $204.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $50.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Discover Financial Services 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.