Calamos Advisors LLC Has $13.59 Million Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Calamos Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 120,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,579 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $13,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. TIAA FSB increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. TIAA FSB now owns 8,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 43,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,923,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $125.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $122.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.90. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.