National Wealth Management Group LLC Makes New $466,000 Investment in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

National Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 56.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,597,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $743,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102,119 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,686,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,652,000 after acquiring an additional 238,498 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,337,000 after acquiring an additional 20,333 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 30.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,233,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,473,000 after acquiring an additional 526,951 shares during the period. Finally, Eminence Capital LP lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 42.3% during the third quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,343,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,429,000 after acquiring an additional 399,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $126.69. 1,136,652 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,235,334. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $131.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $122.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.44. 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 market cap of $31.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DFS. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (up from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.29.

About Discover Financial Services

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.