Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 88.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,779 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Team Hewins LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 1,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of DFS traded up $0.67 on Friday, reaching $142.29. The stock had a trading volume of 827,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,825,082. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.07. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.53% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

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; private student loans, 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.