Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DFS. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,480,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 19.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 924,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,070,000 after purchasing an additional 147,558 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Affinity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $505,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.64.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $200.25 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.86. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $104.08 and a 12 month high of $204.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 27.52%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.