First Interstate Bank Invests $279,000 in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

First Interstate Bank acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 282.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Discover Financial Services

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.22.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock traded down $1.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 994,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,070,941. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.45.

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

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.