Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,472,771,000 after acquiring an additional 80,601 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,391,000 after purchasing an additional 12,255 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,063,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $201.79 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.92. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $104.08 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market cap of $50.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.64.

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.