UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Buys 12,255 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,255 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $257,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the third quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 27.4% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 2.4% during the third quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock opened at $182.43 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $156.66 and a 200 day moving average of $139.67. 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 $45.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $89.58 and a 1 year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. 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 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.