Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,870,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,489,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 72,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 14,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $157.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $39.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $188.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. On average, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 17.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.91.

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; 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.