Atria Investments Inc Has $1.79 Million Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 57.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,684 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after buying an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 4,478 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth $983,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,835,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,415,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $176.02 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $84.03 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.58. The company has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DFS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.81.

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.