Zhang Financial LLC Invests $370,000 in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,692,000 after acquiring an additional 62,595 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,064,000 after buying an additional 73,902 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares in the last quarter. Elser Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the second quarter worth $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,594,000 after purchasing an additional 508,504 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.88.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $147.14 on Wednesday. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $149.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $36.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $135.64 and a 200-day moving average of $130.63.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 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; 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.