Pitcairn Co. Has $653,000 Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Pitcairn Co. decreased its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 15.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 821 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,692,000 after purchasing an additional 62,595 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,064,000 after purchasing an additional 73,902 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,063,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,266,000 after buying an additional 4,594 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $182.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $85.19 and a 1 year high of $188.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.24.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Discover Financial Services 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; 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.