Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Trims Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC reduced its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 25.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 277,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 94,099 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned 0.11% of Discover Financial Services worth $48,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DFS. KCM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $13,057,000. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $423,000. Unison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 45,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,879,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 174.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,171 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 9.0 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $146.77 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $119.31 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $181.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. Analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DFS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

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.