D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 539 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 539 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 27.4% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Inlet Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.4% during the third quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen 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 target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $182.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.66 and a 200-day moving average of $139.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $89.58 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.60%.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.