Cooke & Bieler LP Purchases 220,728 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,339,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 220,728 shares during the quarter. Discover Financial Services accounts for 1.3% of Cooke & Bieler LP's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.54% of Discover Financial Services worth $150,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,509,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $125.35. 1,548,721 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,126,981. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.45. The business's fifty day moving average price is $122.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $131.65.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is 31.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research reissued a "peer perform" rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $107.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $125.94.

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; 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.