Nordea Investment Management AB Has $59.31 Million Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 342,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,203 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.14% of Discover Financial Services worth $59,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,202,000 after acquiring an additional 10,946 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the second quarter worth approximately $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth approximately $2,415,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,657,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Barclays upgraded Discover Financial Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.07.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $177.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $96.46 and a twelve month high of $188.26. The company’s fifty day moving average is $173.93 and its 200 day moving average is $149.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

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.