Clarius Group LLC Has $277,000 Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Clarius Group LLC lowered its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 135.1% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,478 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $983,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,835,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,197,000 after acquiring an additional 23,702 shares during the period. Finally, Forge First Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at $13,341,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DFS shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on 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, 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. Thirteen research 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.88.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 2.9 %

NYSE DFS opened at $145.81 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $134.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.54 EPS. Discover Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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; 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.