Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Sells 330,516 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lessened its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 98.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 330,516 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,377,961,000 after purchasing an additional 290,937 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,553,016 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,308,409,000 after purchasing an additional 59,154 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,240,451 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,082,826,000 after purchasing an additional 165,589 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $724,720,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,974,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $515,268,000 after buying an additional 826,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Argus upgraded Discover Financial Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $191.64.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded down $2.73 on Friday, hitting $197.76. The company had a trading volume of 31,289,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,794,465. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.16. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $119.95 and a 1 year high of $207.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $176.14 and a 200-day moving average of $179.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.92. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.25 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

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; 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.