Alpine Associates Management Inc. Sells 14,000 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Alpine Associates Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 864,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,000 shares during the quarter. Discover Financial Services accounts for about 9.1% of Alpine Associates Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Alpine Associates Management Inc. owned about 0.34% of Discover Financial Services worth $149,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 3.1 %

DFS opened at $167.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.10. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The stock has a market cap of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 10.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. As a group, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 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.