PGGM Investments Has $4.05 Million Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

PGGM Investments lessened its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,929 shares during the period. PGGM Investments' holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $4,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DFS. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 105.8% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 465 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $127.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 738,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,777. The stock has a market cap of $32.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The company's 50 day moving average is $123.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.50.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

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; 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.