GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New $160,000 Investment in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $160,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 56.5% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Palestra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $81,865,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 336.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,133,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,220,000 after acquiring an additional 874,020 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 526,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,343,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,429,000 after acquiring an additional 399,209 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $127.70 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The stock has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.27.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted 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). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DFS. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.29.

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.