Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Acquires 2,908 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,908 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares during the period. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,415,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,197,000 after purchasing an additional 23,702 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 21.5% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,657,000 after buying an additional 13,427 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $182.43. The company had a trading volume of 577,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,675,969. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $155.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.27. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $89.58 and a 12-month high of $188.26. The company has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is 22.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.81.

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.