Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 135.1% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,478 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 25,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,855,000 after buying an additional 9,287 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $983,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,968,000 after acquiring an additional 251,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 61.0% in the first 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.6 %

DFS opened at $140.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $79.04 and a 1-year high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.54 EPS. Analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.93%.

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; private student loans, 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.