Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 204,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 72,926 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.08% of Discover Financial Services worth $26,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,968,000 after buying an additional 251,909 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 60.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $238,605,000 after acquiring an additional 803,738 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,692,000 after purchasing an additional 62,595 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 67.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,257,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,297,000 after purchasing an additional 506,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $136.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $134.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.31. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $147.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.54 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.94.

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.