Quantbot Technologies LP Has $2.04 Million Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after buying an additional 56,814 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the second quarter valued at about $4,835,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth about $2,415,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 61.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,197,000 after buying an additional 23,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 75,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,657,000 after buying an additional 13,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DFS shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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, Evercore ISI upped 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $182.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $85.37 and a 52-week high of $188.26. The stock has a market cap of $45.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $155.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.27.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 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.