Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Raises Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 214.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 61.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,197,000 after purchasing an additional 23,702 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 74.0% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 122.6% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 6,662 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $13,322,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $182.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $85.37 and a fifty-two week high of $188.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.97. The company has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.41.

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. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. 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.