Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 209,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $36,219,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $195.38 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $188.81 and its 200 day moving average is $165.25. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year high of $205.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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.