Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Acquires 656 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,597,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $743,663,000 after buying an additional 3,102,119 shares in the last quarter. Palestra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $81,865,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 336.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,133,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,220,000 after buying an additional 874,020 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew 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 buying an additional 526,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP grew 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 buying an additional 399,209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Discover Financial Services

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE DFS traded down $2.83 on Thursday, reaching $126.19. 162,905 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,199,038. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $123.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.88. The company has a market cap of $31.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

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; 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.