iA Global Asset Management Inc. Has $1.75 Million Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 403.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,455 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,982 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,781 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 160,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $22,474,000 after purchasing an additional 22,200 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,472,771,000 after purchasing an additional 80,601 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 149,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,933,000 after purchasing an additional 9,010 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,976 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,785,000 after buying an additional 13,751 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $146.13.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE DFS traded down $2.39 on Monday, reaching $176.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,405,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,664,203. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $96.46 and a 1 year high of $188.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.13. The company has a market capitalization of $44.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G 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 announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.60%.

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.