Bridges Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 11.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,189 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DFS. Elser Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $91,044,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $71,693,000. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 368.0% during the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after buying an additional 508,504 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the first quarter worth approximately $62,829,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 430.5% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 443,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,752,000 after buying an additional 360,074 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $175.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $143.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.22. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $82.15 and a 1-year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.35 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business 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 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

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.