Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $16,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 6.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 220,667 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,957,000 after buying an additional 13,306 shares in the last quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 3.2% in the third quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 10,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 403.6% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,747,000 after purchasing an additional 9,982 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 32.3% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded up $2.48 on Wednesday, hitting $178.23. 1,393,360 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,660,175. The company has a market capitalization of $44.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $162.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $96.46 and a one year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $146.13.

Discover Financial Services 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.