Oakworth Capital Inc. Has $109,000 Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Oakworth Capital Inc. maintained its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock at the end of the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 3.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 171.5% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 88,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,045,000 after buying an additional 55,840 shares in the last quarter. BKD Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 8.6% in the first quarter. BKD Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 17,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth approximately $868,000. 84.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shares of Discover Financial Services (DFS) opened at 60.78 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $53.91 and a one year high of $74.33. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.93. The company has a market capitalization of $22.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 21.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post $5.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is an increase from Discover Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 20.73%.

Discover Financial Services declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 28th that allows the company to repurchase $2.23 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

COPYRIGHT VIOLATION WARNING: This news story was originally reported by [[site]] and is the sole property of of [[site]]. If you are accessing this news story on another publication, it was illegally copied and reposted in violation of US and international trademark and copyright law. The legal version of this news story can be accessed at [[permalink]].

A number of equities analysts have commented on DFS shares. Deutsche Bank AG lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Instinet reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price target (down previously from $88.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Saturday, April 29th. BidaskClub raised Discover Financial Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 10th. Jefferies Group LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, June 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $74.21.

In other news, CEO David W. Nelms sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.52, for a total value of $1,875,600.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Roger C. Hochschild sold 15,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.48, for a total value of $953,319.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 830,257 shares in the company, valued at $51,874,457.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,744 shares of company stock worth $6,658,830 over the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Discover Financial Services

Discover Financial Services (DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company. The Company is a bank holding company, as well as a financial holding company. The Company operates through two segments: Direct Banking and Payment Services. It provides direct banking products and services, and payment services through its subsidiaries.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DFS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS).