Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Purchased by Gladstone Capital Management LLP

Gladstone Capital Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 21.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 235,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,808 shares during the period. Discover Financial Services makes up approximately 2.7% of Gladstone Capital Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Gladstone Capital Management LLP’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $30,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $295,968,000 after purchasing an additional 251,909 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,605,000 after buying an additional 803,738 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,692,000 after buying an additional 62,595 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,257,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,297,000 after buying an additional 506,801 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% in the second 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $142.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $35.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $147.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 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 analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted 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 report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Discover Financial Services in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.94.

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.