GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $160,000 in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $160,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.9% in the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 335.4% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,171,000 after purchasing an additional 49,145 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,000,000 after purchasing an additional 16,532 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,685,000 after buying an additional 19,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 339,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,184,000 after buying an additional 72,452 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DFS shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley raised Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $127.70 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.27. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). The company had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 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 Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.93%.

Discover Financial Services 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.