Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,648 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,648 shares during the quarter. Discover Financial Services makes up approximately 0.6% of Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $6,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in 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 valued at $167,692,000 after buying an additional 62,595 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,064,000 after buying an additional 73,902 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after buying an additional 6,042 shares during the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,594,000 after buying an additional 508,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $143.11 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.46. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $152.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $35.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 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, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.12.

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; 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.