Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP Lowers Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP trimmed its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 91,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 44,633 shares during the period. Discover Financial Services comprises 1.2% of Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $12,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,692,000 after acquiring an additional 62,595 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,064,000 after acquiring an additional 73,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,066,000 after acquiring an additional 6,042 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen investment 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.1 %

DFS stock opened at $182.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $155.09 and its 200 day moving average is $138.97. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $85.37 and a one year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 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.