Citigroup Inc. Has $30.94 Million Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 7.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,874 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.09% of Discover Financial Services worth $30,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Elser Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $91,044,000. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% during the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,594,000 after acquiring an additional 508,504 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,199,000 after purchasing an additional 245,829 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 478,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,606,000 after purchasing an additional 192,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $21,169,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $182.68 on Tuesday. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $85.19 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.24.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.60%.

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.