Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,693,000 after buying an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,415,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,197,000 after purchasing an additional 23,702 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 21.5% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,657,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $182.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.27. The stock has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $85.37 and a 1-year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

About Discover Financial Services

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.