Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Increases Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 102,445 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,635 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $17,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $351,766,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $39,067,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $38,489,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $36,219,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $192.40.

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Discover Financial Services Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE DFS traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $169.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,534,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,411,054. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $186.06 and a 200 day moving average of $169.36. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.