Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.70 Million Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,697,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 180.0% in the fourth quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,240,500,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on DFS. Citigroup increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Discover Financial Services

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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $125.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $122.02 and a 200 day moving average of $105.90. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.21% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.