Blair William & Co. IL Cuts Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Blair William & Co. IL cut its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 48.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 49,383 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $6,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Team Hewins LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 5.5% in the first quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 1,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the first quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on DFS. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.33.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE DFS traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $141.72. 1,516,693 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,842,723. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $147.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $127.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.06. The firm has a market cap of $35.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.44.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

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; 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.