Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 666,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 71,508 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.27% of Discover Financial Services worth $115,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS stock opened at $175.81 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.92. The company has a market capitalization of $44.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $119.31 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results 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 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 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.