Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Acquires 9,529 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Free Report) by 128.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,963 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,529 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,472,771,000 after acquiring an additional 80,601 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after buying an additional 558,227 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $351,766,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $257,391,000 after acquiring an additional 12,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $242,460,000 after acquiring an additional 7,751 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock traded down $5.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $194.21. 2,476,043 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,652,495. The company has a market capitalization of $48.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.87 and a 200 day moving average of $162.92. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $118.74 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.