BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Purchases 108,694 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 109.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,694 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.08% of Discover Financial Services worth $29,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,281,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,692,000 after buying an additional 62,595 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,181,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,064,000 after acquiring an additional 73,902 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,162,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $152,066,000 after acquiring an additional 6,042 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 2.2% in the third quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 878,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,198,000 after purchasing an additional 18,670 shares during the period. Finally, Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $91,044,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of 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. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $179.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $85.19 and a 52-week high of $188.26. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.60%.

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.