Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Invests $2.42 Million in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,215 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,415,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Inlet Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 2.4% during 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 period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.8 %

DFS traded down $3.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $174.65. 1,931,895 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,681,792. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $84.00 and a 1-year high of $188.26. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $145.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.04. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is presently 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.