Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Holdings Trimmed by National Pension Service

National Pension Service decreased its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 415,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,158 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.17% of Discover Financial Services worth $71,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 78.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DFS has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $191.20 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $118.74 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $188.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

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.