Fulton Bank N.A. Buys 84 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 506.5% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 147.8% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter worth $30,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DFS. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $233.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.07.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $175.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $174.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.88. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $96.46 and a 52 week high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

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.