Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Has $210,000 Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 77.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,073 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% in the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,692,000 after acquiring an additional 62,595 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,064,000 after acquiring an additional 73,902 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares during the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after purchasing an additional 508,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted 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. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $176.07 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $84.03 and a 12-month high of $188.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

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.