Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd reduced its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,137 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlet Private Wealth LLC increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 24.4% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.6% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.12.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 4.0 %

DFS opened at $148.90 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $138.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.12. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $157.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

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.