WASHINGTON TRUST Co Has $315,000 Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co decreased its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,472,771,000 after purchasing an additional 80,601 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $351,766,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,391,000 after purchasing an additional 12,255 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DFS. 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. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.2 %

DFS stock opened at $196.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $184.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.75. The company has a market cap of $49.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $109.50 and a twelve month high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given 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 1.43%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 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.