Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 31.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,550 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $5,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 64,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,045,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 115.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 149,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,954,000 after acquiring an additional 16,863 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 74.3% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $196.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $49.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $185.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.40. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $118.74 and a one year high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid 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 yield of 1.42%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DFS. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.