Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 1,579 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Calamos Advisors LLC reduced its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,579 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $13,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 335.4% in the 4th 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 raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000,000 after buying an additional 16,532 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,685,000 after buying an additional 19,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 339,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,184,000 after buying an additional 72,452 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on DFS. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $125.35 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was 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 owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

About Discover Financial Services

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.