Westchester Capital Management LLC Purchases 34,192 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Westchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 30.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 146,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 34,192 shares during the quarter. Discover Financial Services comprises about 1.4% of Westchester Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Westchester Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Discover Financial Services worth $25,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $724,720,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $351,766,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $515,268,000 after acquiring an additional 826,287 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 208.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 561,405 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $97,252,000 after buying an additional 379,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,377,961,000 after buying an additional 290,937 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DFS shares. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $169.00 to $129.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $188.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.3 %

DFS traded down $2.44 on Friday, reaching $185.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,546,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,610,533. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business's 50 day moving average is $169.86 and its 200 day moving average is $174.05. The stock has a market cap of $46.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $119.95 and a 1 year high of $205.76.

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

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.