Inlet Private Wealth LLC Purchases 75 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Inlet Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 37.1% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.88.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS traded up $2.46 on Thursday, reaching $149.99. 613,810 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,624,641. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $37.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.41. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $79.04 and a 52 week high of $152.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.75.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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.