Axa S.A. Lowers Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Axa S.A. trimmed its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,545 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $724,720,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $351,766,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $515,268,000 after acquiring an additional 826,287 shares during the period. Third Point LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,867,000. Finally, Pentwater Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,678,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $190.10 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $119.95 and a 52-week high of $205.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.89 and a 200 day moving average of $176.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.16.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.92. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Discover Financial Services

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; 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.