Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 355 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 7.9% during the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 335.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,171,000 after buying an additional 49,145 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000,000 after buying an additional 16,532 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $13,685,000 after purchasing an additional 19,283 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 339,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,184,000 after acquiring an additional 72,452 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $125.35 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $122.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.34 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, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

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.