Martin & Co. Inc. TN Has $7.56 Million Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Martin & Co. Inc. TN cut its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,010 shares during the period. Discover Financial Services accounts for approximately 1.9% of Martin & Co. Inc. TN’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Martin & Co. Inc. TN’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $7,558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $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 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $351,766,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in 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 valued at $257,391,000 after acquiring an additional 12,255 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.2 %

DFS opened at $196.14 on Monday. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $109.50 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. 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 company has a market capitalization of $49.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $184.70 and a 200-day moving average of $160.98.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DFS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.46.

About Discover Financial Services

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.