Financial Sense Advisors Inc. Invests $732,000 in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Financial Sense Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,228 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $732,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,472,771,000 after buying an additional 80,601 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $351,766,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 12,255 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 7,751 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock traded down $4.96 on Friday, reaching $194.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,137,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,609,271. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $118.74 and a 1 year 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. The company's fifty day moving average is $186.51 and its 200 day moving average is $162.43. The company has a market cap of $48.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

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; 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.