Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 27.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,894 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 64,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,045,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 115.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 149,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,954,000 after acquiring an additional 16,863 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 74.3% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DFS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of 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 upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $196.96 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $185.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $118.74 and a 12 month high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

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.