Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.9% in the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 335.4% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,171,000 after acquiring an additional 49,145 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $103,000,000 after acquiring an additional 16,532 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,685,000 after acquiring an additional 19,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 339,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,184,000 after acquiring an additional 72,452 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.6 %

DFS traded up $2.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $127.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,154,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,204,117. The stock has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.50. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $140.00 target price (up from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a "peer perform" rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.