Quest Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 14.4% during the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1.4% during the third quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 9,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 3.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 170,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,965,000 after purchasing an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,199,000 after purchasing an additional 245,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $172.80 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $85.19 and a 1-year high of $188.26. The stock has a market cap of $43.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced 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. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.23 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services 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.