Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 58.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,664 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ethic Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the first quarter worth about $446,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,945,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,124,000 after purchasing an additional 413,192 shares during the last quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 273.5% in the first quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 14,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after acquiring an additional 10,712 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 325,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,183,000 after purchasing an additional 84,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 66.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 77,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,696,000 after buying an additional 31,111 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.63% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock traded up $1.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $91.77. The stock had a trading volume of 345,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,382,357. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.24, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.43. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $87.64 and a 1-year high of $122.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $106.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.16). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 29.65%. The company had revenue of $3.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.96 EPS. Discover Financial Services’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DFS. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Tuesday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $128.00 to $109.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Discover Financial Services from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.13.

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; 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.