Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 238 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 27.4% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 2.8 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $194.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $186.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.92. Discover Financial Services has a twelve month low of $118.74 and a twelve month high of $205.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 17.54%.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.