Thompson Investment Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 65.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 37,170 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.2% during the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 491.8% during the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 5,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $789,000 after purchasing an additional 4,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 458.5% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.5 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $199.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $106.65 and a 12-month high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio 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.