Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Position Increased by Parkside Financial Bank & Trust

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 319 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 43,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,923,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the third quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 24,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,111,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.5% in the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DFS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.8 %

DFS stock traded up $1.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $130.25. The company had a trading volume of 330,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,206,385. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $122.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.72. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $131.65. The stock has a market cap of $32.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Discover Financial Services

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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; private student loans, 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.