Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 1,149 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,149 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DFS. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $351,766,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during 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 buying an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,199,000 after acquiring an additional 245,829 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $39,067,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,489,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on DFS shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE DFS opened at $164.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $187.69 and a 200-day moving average of $167.82. 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 has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The firm has a market cap of $41.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

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.