Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 958 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $5,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $351,766,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,377,961,000 after acquiring an additional 290,937 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,067,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,489,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $36,219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of DFS stock opened at $158.23 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $119.31 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given 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 1.77%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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 lowered their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of 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 research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $192.40.

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.