Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,004 Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. TIAA FSB grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. TIAA FSB now owns 8,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 43,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,923,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (up from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.22.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE DFS opened at $120.91 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.95. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $131.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.96). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.24%. The firm had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued 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 2.32%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Discover Financial Services 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.