VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Purchases New Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE DFS opened at $162.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $40.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $186.51 and a 200-day moving average of $168.49. 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 data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on DFS. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.91.

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; 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.