Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Has $882,000 Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 88.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,089 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 39,396 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 506.5% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of DFS stock traded down $0.49 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $199.84. 1,721,568 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,589,678. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $179.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $104.08 and a 52-week high of $204.93.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $182.64.

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; 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.