Bailard Inc. Decreases Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Bailard Inc. decreased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 49,145 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 16,532 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 19,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 72,452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded up $1.66 on Friday, reaching $127.33. The stock had a trading volume of 321,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,190,916. The stock has a market cap of $31.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $123.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released 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). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on DFS shares. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.29.

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.