Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,906 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $7,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 72,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,633,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 14,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 78.5% in the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS stock opened at $181.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.62. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month high of $205.76. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. As a group, 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

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.