First Interstate Bank Makes New $279,000 Investment in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

First Interstate Bank acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DFS. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 282.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.22.

Insider Activity at Discover Financial Services

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS traded down $1.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 994,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,070,941. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $121.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.42. The company has a market cap of $29.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.96). The business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.