Farther Finance Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 30.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 593 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 14.0% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.5% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 36,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,880 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.8% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 170,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,965,000 after acquiring an additional 6,364 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $164.67 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.29. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $119.31 and a 52-week high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DFS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.91.

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.