Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 62.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 120,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,234 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $20,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,472,771,000 after acquiring an additional 80,601 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth $351,766,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in 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 buying an additional 12,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,460,000 after buying an additional 7,751 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $194.21 on Friday. The firm 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. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $118.74 and a 12-month 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $186.87 and its 200-day moving average is $162.92.

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

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a 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.