Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $3,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DFS. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $2,034,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $175.99 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $44.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $164.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $143.35. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $96.46 and a 1-year high of $188.26.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on DFS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.13.

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.