B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Makes New $3.75 Million Investment in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 26,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,748,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 127.6% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 8,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,522 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 7.7% in the third quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 4,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the third quarter valued at about $7,838,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 56.8% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after buying an additional 2,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.4% in the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on DFS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.2 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $172.80 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $85.19 and a one year high of $188.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $150.42 and its 200 day moving average is $136.99. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $43.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 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 firm had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.23 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

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