Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Purchased by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 955 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 56.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,597,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $743,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102,119 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,686,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,652,000 after purchasing an additional 238,498 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,337,000 after buying an additional 20,333 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,233,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,473,000 after buying an additional 526,951 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 239.6% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,027,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,912,000 after buying an additional 1,430,637 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $125.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $124.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $31.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.43. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.69 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.