Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 1,321 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,321 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $7,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,472,771,000 after buying an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $351,766,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,391,000 after purchasing an additional 12,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $203.34 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $51.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $186.02 and a 200-day moving average of $162.17.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

About Discover Financial Services

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.