Spire Wealth Management Decreases Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Spire Wealth Management decreased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 309 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DFS. Prudential PLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 16,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,846,000 after acquiring an additional 9,382 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 27,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,038,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DFS. Bank of America cut their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $112.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 20th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $94.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.53.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $86.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.44. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $122.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.35.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.18 by ($0.59). The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.95 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 18.39% and a return on equity of 27.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 12.49 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.77%.

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.