Magnetar Financial LLC Cuts Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Magnetar Financial LLC cut its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 463,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 107,467 shares during the period. Discover Financial Services comprises about 1.9% of Magnetar Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Magnetar Financial LLC owned 0.18% of Discover Financial Services worth $80,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price 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, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $162.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $186.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.49. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $119.31 and a 52 week high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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; 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.