Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Has $116,000 Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.9% during the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 335.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,171,000 after buying an additional 49,145 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000,000 after purchasing an additional 16,532 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,685,000 after purchasing an additional 19,283 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 339,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,184,000 after purchasing an additional 72,452 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.9 %

DFS opened at $125.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $122.02 and its 200 day moving average is $105.90. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly 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). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.21%. The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors 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 yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Twelve 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.94.

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.