Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $1.44 Million Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 465.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,436 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,415,000. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,657,000 after acquiring an additional 13,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 149,361 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,954,000 after acquiring an additional 16,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS traded up $0.58 on Friday, reaching $177.88. The stock had a trading volume of 353,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,548. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.88 and a 200-day moving average of $141.13. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $96.46 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26. The company has a market capitalization of $44.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.04 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.