Atom Investors LP Buys 1,430 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Atom Investors LP lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 69.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,430 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $91,044,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares during the period. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 368.0% during the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 646,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,594,000 after acquiring an additional 508,504 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 1,272.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 265,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,199,000 after acquiring an additional 245,829 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 67.1% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 478,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,606,000 after purchasing an additional 192,142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $178.31 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $44.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $93.83 and a one year high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.