Fmr LLC Purchases 558,227 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned about 2.98% of Discover Financial Services worth $1,051,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 7,751 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position 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 worth $167,692,000 after purchasing an additional 62,595 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,064,000 after buying an additional 73,902 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $152,066,000 after acquiring an additional 6,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,063,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $149,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on DFS. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on 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. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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 note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS traded down $0.06 on Thursday, reaching $182.56. The stock had a trading volume of 873,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,680,742. 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 has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $155.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.27. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $85.37 and a 1-year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.60%.

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.