ING Groep NV Sells 1,308 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

ING Groep NV trimmed its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,308 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.2% in the third quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on DFS shares. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 2.8 %

DFS opened at $194.21 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $48.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $186.87 and its 200-day moving average is $163.47. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $205.76.

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

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

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; 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.