Easterly Investment Partners LLC Purchases 33,173 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2,106.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 34,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,173 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $4,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 97.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 130.3% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,917,000 after purchasing an additional 16,905 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, Fiduciary Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 107.5% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 8,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:DFS traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $175.22. 424,045 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,664,021. The company has a fifty day moving average of $142.21 and a 200 day moving average of $133.60. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $82.15 and a twelve month high of $188.26. The company has a market capitalization of $43.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.41. 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 (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 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 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.35 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DFS shares. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.