Bridges Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 10,528 Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 10,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,377,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $238,605,000 after acquiring an additional 803,738 shares during the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the second quarter worth $91,044,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at $71,693,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,257,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,297,000 after purchasing an additional 506,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth about $62,829,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS opened at $142.49 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $147.61. The company has a market cap of $35.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $134.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

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; 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.