Mariner LLC Raises Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 47,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,338 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $8,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,377,961,000 after buying an additional 290,937 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,553,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,308,409,000 after acquiring an additional 59,154 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,240,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,826,000 after purchasing an additional 165,589 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $724,720,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $515,268,000 after purchasing an additional 826,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $159.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.34. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $119.95 and a 12 month high of $205.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on DFS shares. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $188.40.

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.