Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 108.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,538 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,685,000 after acquiring an additional 19,283 shares during the period. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,697,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 493,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,442,000 after acquiring an additional 34,899 shares during the period. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DFS shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $98.00 price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.83.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $128.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.65 and a 200 day moving average of $101.46. The firm has a market cap of $32.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $128.03.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.96). The business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.24% and a net margin of 14.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Discover Financial Services

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.