Conning Inc. Invests $256,000 in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Conning Inc. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew 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 worth $743,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102,119 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,686,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,652,000 after buying an additional 238,498 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,927,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,042,000 after buying an additional 1,293,260 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $340,672,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,337,000 after buying an additional 20,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of 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, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Discover Financial Services

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of DFS opened at $120.57 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.95. The company has a market capitalization of $30.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.96). The business had revenue of $4.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.10 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.24% and a net margin of 14.30%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.89%.

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.