Vinva Investment Management Ltd Buys Shares of 11,196 Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,559,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 27.4% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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 seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 0.1 %

DFS stock opened at $182.43 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.67. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $89.58 and a 12 month high of $188.26. The company has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted 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 company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.60%.

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.