Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock Position Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 294,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,463 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Discover Financial Services worth $41,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 135.1% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 4,478 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $983,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,835,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,197,000 after acquiring an additional 23,702 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" 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 upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS traded up $6.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $181.40. The stock had a trading volume of 2,300,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,680,132. The stock has a market cap of $45.54 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $143.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.29. 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 has a one year low of $82.68 and a one year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during 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 prior year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Discover Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 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.