Friedenthal Financial Invests $51,000 in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after buying an additional 558,227 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 368.0% during the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after acquiring an additional 508,504 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,199,000 after acquiring an additional 245,829 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 478,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,606,000 after purchasing an additional 192,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $21,169,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.8 %

NYSE:DFS opened at $176.06 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $96.46 and a 12-month high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $233.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.00.

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; 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.