Swiss National Bank Has $104.36 Million Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 743,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Discover Financial Services worth $104,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the third quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.4% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Inlet Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.4% in the third quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $173.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.41. The company has a market cap of $43.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 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.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on DFS. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.81.

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.