Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Buys 656 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,597,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $743,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102,119 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,686,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,652,000 after acquiring an additional 238,498 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,337,000 after acquiring an additional 20,333 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,233,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,473,000 after acquiring an additional 526,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,343,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,429,000 after acquiring an additional 399,209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded down $2.83 during trading on Thursday, reaching $126.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 162,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,199,038. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $123.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.88. The firm has a market cap of $31.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $131.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.