Pitcairn Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Pitcairn Co. reduced its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 448 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 465.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 10,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 8,436 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 36,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 102,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 9.0 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $146.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $119.31 and a 1 year high of $205.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $181.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.95. The company has a market capitalization of $36.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its 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 return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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.