Inlet Private Wealth LLC Boosts Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Inlet Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 24.4% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.88.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:DFS traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $149.99. 613,810 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,624,641. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $136.12 and its 200-day moving average is $130.75. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $152.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The business 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 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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.