Greenleaf Trust Purchases 86 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP increased 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 valued at $167,692,000 after acquiring an additional 62,595 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew 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 valued at $154,064,000 after purchasing an additional 73,902 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,066,000 after purchasing an additional 6,042 shares during the period. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $91,044,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 368.0% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,594,000 after purchasing an additional 508,504 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:DFS opened at $143.11 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $138.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.46. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $79.04 and a 52-week high of $152.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $35.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $136.12.

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.