Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 1,321 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,321 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $7,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 64,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,045,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 115.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 149,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,954,000 after acquiring an additional 16,863 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $203.34 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $205.76. The firm has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.