Captrust Financial Advisors Sells 1,460 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Captrust Financial Advisors trimmed its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,460 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $5,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 12.2% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 26,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 8.4% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,559,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,391,000 after buying an additional 12,255 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 43,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $179.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $45.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.87. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $93.83 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.60%.

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.