Canoe Financial LP Sells 16,159 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Canoe Financial LP cut its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 621,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,159 shares during the period. Discover Financial Services makes up about 2.1% of Canoe Financial LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Canoe Financial LP’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $86,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 7.2% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 29,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,099,000 after buying an additional 1,975 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.0% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 61,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,539,000 after buying an additional 2,403 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.5% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 59,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,344,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 10.1% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 65,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,175,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 23.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 20,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,949 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.12.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $148.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $37.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $138.81 and its 200-day moving average is $131.81. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $157.06.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

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.