National Pension Service Has $61.69 Million Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,814 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $61,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Inlet Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE DFS opened at $151.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $38.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.25. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $82.15 and a twelve month high of $157.06.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio 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.