Duquesne Family Office LLC Decreases Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Duquesne Family Office LLC decreased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 74.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 477,950 shares during the quarter. Discover Financial Services accounts for 0.7% of Duquesne Family Office LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Duquesne Family Office LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $21,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 60.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $238,605,000 after purchasing an additional 803,738 shares in the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $91,044,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth about $71,693,000. Samlyn Capital LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after buying an additional 508,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,257,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,297,000 after acquiring an additional 506,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of DFS stock opened at $135.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $147.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $134.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.93. The company has a market capitalization of $34.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.42.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.94.

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; private student loans, 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.