Smith Moore & CO. Sells 173 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Smith Moore & CO. lessened its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 173 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $724,720,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $351,766,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,377,961,000 after buying an additional 290,937 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,067,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,489,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 9.0 %

Shares of DFS opened at $146.77 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $181.35 and a 200 day moving average of $171.18. 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 $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

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.