Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Sold by E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB reduced its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 12.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,320 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in 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 valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 37.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1.6% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $136.12.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $148.93 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $79.04 and a twelve month high of $157.06. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $138.51 and a 200-day moving average of $131.54. The firm has a market cap of $37.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. Analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.