American International Group Inc. Sells 480 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

American International Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $8,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,072,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,046,000 after acquiring an additional 475,579 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,655,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,891,000 after buying an additional 217,475 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $322,199,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,968,000 after buying an additional 251,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 60.9% during 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 buying an additional 803,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:DFS traded up $2.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $142.32. 535,911 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,826,525. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $147.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.94.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.53% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

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; 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.