Lynch & Associates IN Acquires 948 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Lynch & Associates IN increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $4,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 32,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,208,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $805,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 131,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,877,000 after acquiring an additional 30,058 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 3.5% in the first quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBOE Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 273.5% during the first quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 14,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 10,712 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.63% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of DFS traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $88.56. 579,439 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,360,637. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $87.45 and a 52-week high of $122.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.93. The firm has a market cap of $22.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.44.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $3.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.88 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 29.65%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 24th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on DFS. Piper Sandler cut shares of Discover Financial Services from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.13.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.