Discover Financial Services Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:DFS)

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 14,669 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 449% compared to the average volume of 2,673 put options.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% in 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. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.2 %

Discover Financial Services stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $169.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,534,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,411,054. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $119.31 and a twelve month high of $205.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $42.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.36.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised 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. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

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.