Vontobel Holding Ltd. Decreases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 969 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $12,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 8,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $370,000. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 64,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,045,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth approximately $437,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS opened at $147.54 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $136.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.75. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $79.04 and a 12-month high of $149.97. The firm has a market cap of $37.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $3.00. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on DFS. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.88.

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.