Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Purchased by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,283 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $13,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 16,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,846,000 after acquiring an additional 9,382 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 33.8% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 27,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,038,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. 83.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on DFS shares. Bank of America raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $94.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $140.00 price target (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $119.78.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS traded up $4.53 on Wednesday, reaching $125.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,003,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,641,537. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $127.70. The business's 50-day moving average price is $113.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.40. The stock has a market cap of $31.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.77 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Discover Financial Services

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company 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.