National Pension Service Raises Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 439,756 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 56,814 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.18% of Discover Financial Services worth $61,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Barclays upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 20.2 %

Discover Financial Services stock traded up $30.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $182.55. The company had a trading volume of 8,217,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,661,884. The firm has a market cap of $45.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $142.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.60. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $82.15 and a 1 year high of $188.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.