Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Increases Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Boston Partners increased 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,686,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,652,000 after acquiring an additional 238,498 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,337,000 after acquiring an additional 20,333 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,233,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,473,000 after acquiring an additional 526,951 shares during the period. Finally, Eminence Capital LP boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,343,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,429,000 after acquiring an additional 399,209 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.29.

Insider Activity at Discover Financial Services

In related news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS traded up $1.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $130.25. The company had a trading volume of 330,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,206,385. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $131.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $122.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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; 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.