Flputnam Investment Management Co. Raises Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 214.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,666 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $934,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $340,672,000. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 56.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,597,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $743,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102,119 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 489.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,999,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,180 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,927,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,042,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palestra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,865,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $140.00 target price (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.22.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $119.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $131.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.53.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.03 by ($1.93). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.24% and a net margin of 14.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.