Madison Investment Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 2,844 Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in 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 worth $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in 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 worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Invst LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.2% in the third quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, reaching $169.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,534,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,159. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $119.31 and a 52-week high of $205.76. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $185.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.

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.