Fmr LLC Grows Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Fmr LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,051,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,460,000 after buying an additional 7,751 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 62,595 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 73,902 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,063,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,594 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on DFS. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.1 %

DFS stock opened at $182.50 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.97. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $85.37 and a 12 month high of $188.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

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.