Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.

Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. cut its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,594,000 after purchasing an additional 508,504 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 245,829 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 67.1% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 478,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,606,000 after purchasing an additional 192,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth $21,169,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DFS shares. Barclays upgraded Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $186.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $233.00 target price on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.75.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock opened at $185.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $96.46 and a fifty-two week high of $188.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.67. The stock has a market cap of $46.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 14.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.