Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Sells 11,200 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lessened its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 97.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,200 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $39,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 282.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Discover Financial Services

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $125.35 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $122.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.03. The stock has a market cap of $31.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Discover Financial Services Company 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; 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.