Bank of Montreal Can Buys 104,460 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 18.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 671,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 104,460 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.27% of Discover Financial Services worth $93,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 506.5% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 147.8% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 226 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 348.2% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 251 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $183.49. 378,450 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,678,472. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $85.37 and a 12 month high of $188.26. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $154.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm 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 last year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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 lowered Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.