AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 17.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $724,720,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $515,268,000 after acquiring an additional 826,287 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 16,786.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 784,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,891,000 after acquiring an additional 779,721 shares in the last quarter. Third Point LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $110,867,000. Finally, Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,993,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $197.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $191.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.16. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $122.34 and a 1 year high of $207.42.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded Discover Financial Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Securities cut their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $188.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.64.

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; 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.