Fayez Sarofim & Co Buys New Shares in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Fayez Sarofim & Co bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,053,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,248 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,158 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,411 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invst LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $188.91.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS traded down $2.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $185.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,546,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,610,533. The firm's fifty day moving average is $169.86 and its 200 day moving average is $174.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $119.95 and a twelve month high of $205.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current 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.