Sandy Spring Bank Lowers Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 156 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 104,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,085,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 12,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,537,000 after purchasing an additional 6,503 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $164.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.64. The company has a market cap of $41.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $119.31 and a 12-month high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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; 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.