B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $594,000 Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 43.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,435 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 24.4% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.3% in the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.1% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 2,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on DFS. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS opened at $144.89 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $147.61. The stock has a market cap of $36.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $134.32 and a 200-day moving average of $129.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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.