Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Increases Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 98,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,538 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $17,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the third quarter worth $30,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 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. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock traded up $7.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $203.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,841,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,626,287. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $118.74 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $185.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.88. The firm has a market cap of $51.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is 17.54%.

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.