Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 141.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 60.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $238,605,000 after buying an additional 803,738 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its stake 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 worth $167,692,000 after buying an additional 62,595 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 67.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,257,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,297,000 after buying an additional 506,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.7% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $136.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $34.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 0.94 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $134.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.54 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on DFS. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.