Empirical Finance LLC Has $1.54 Million Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Empirical Finance LLC reduced its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DFS. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,199,000 after purchasing an additional 245,829 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $39,067,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $21,169,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 924,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,070,000 after purchasing an additional 147,558 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.5 %

DFS stock opened at $199.73 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $183.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $106.65 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 17.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on 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. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.46.

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.