OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Sells 969 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora reduced its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 969 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Busey Bank grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Busey Bank now owns 95,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,476,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 66,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,451,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $132,000. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $208,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.64.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.8 %

DFS stock opened at $201.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $50.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.83. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $104.08 and a 52 week high of $204.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. 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.