First Bank & Trust Trims Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

First Bank & Trust decreased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 29.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 721 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 115.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased 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 valued at $20,954,000 after buying an additional 16,863 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $200.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46. 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’s 50-day moving average is $186.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.43. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.89 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.