Park Avenue Securities LLC Boosts Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 56,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,941 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $9,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,472,771,000 after acquiring an additional 80,601 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,391,000 after purchasing an additional 12,255 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,064,000 after purchasing an additional 73,902 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DFS. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $150.00 to $146.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $186.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $233.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.75.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $181.10 on Wednesday. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $96.46 and a 12 month high of $188.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $176.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.42. The firm has a market cap of $45.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share 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; 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.