New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Makes New $11.13 Million Investment in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 64,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,129,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $724,720,000. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 15,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,661,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630 shares during the period. Mint Tower Capital Management B.V. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 354.2% during the fourth quarter. Mint Tower Capital Management B.V. now owns 12,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,201,000 after acquiring an additional 17,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 395,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,610,000 after purchasing an additional 30,624 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $162.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $119.31 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.58. The company has a market capitalization of $40.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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.