Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 19.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,585 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $6,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invst LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $149.57.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of DFS traded up $0.36 on Friday, hitting $176.00. 1,046,587 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,653,829. The stock's 50 day moving average is $164.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.50. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $96.46 and a 1 year high of $188.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.45. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.