Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 77,551 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 18.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 336,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77,551 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.13% of Discover Financial Services worth $43,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,072,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,017,046,000 after purchasing an additional 475,579 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,655,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,891,000 after acquiring an additional 217,475 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $322,199,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,968,000 after acquiring an additional 251,909 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $238,605,000 after purchasing an additional 803,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DFS. StockNews.com started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Sunday, September 1st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS traded down $3.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $128.68. 1,008,260 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,699,962. The company has a market cap of $32.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.12. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $147.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.67.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. Discover Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.75 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.93%.

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.