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

NBC Securities Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 81.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,372 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 43,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,923,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 31,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,541,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $126.97 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $131.65. The company has a market cap of $31.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.41. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.92.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

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; 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.