Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Trims Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC trimmed its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 98.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,377,961,000 after acquiring an additional 290,937 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 2.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $724,720,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 38.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $201.10 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $172.34 and a 200 day moving average of $178.68. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $119.95 and a fifty-two week high of $207.42. The company has a market capitalization of $50.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.16. 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 issued 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. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $219.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Argus upgraded Discover Financial Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given 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.

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.

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