Park Place Capital Corp Reduces Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Park Place Capital Corp lowered its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 35.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,084 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 43,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,923,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $132.97 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.86. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $133.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $33.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.44.

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). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.07% and a net margin of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 note on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.29.

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; 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.