Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $8,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.1% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 65,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,175,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,949 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the third quarter valued at $358,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DFS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.12.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $150.80 on Wednesday. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $80.38 and a 1 year high of $157.06. The company has a market cap of $37.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. 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 50-day moving average price of $139.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.23.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.