CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 506.5% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 147.8% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 348.2% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.12.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 4.0 %

DFS opened at $148.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $157.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $138.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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.