EP Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 6,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $190.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $119.95 and a 12 month high of $205.76. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $168.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.92. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. The firm had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $188.00 to $184.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.64.

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; 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.