Korea Investment CORP Has $43.24 Million Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Korea Investment CORP raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 249,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,381 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.10% of Discover Financial Services worth $43,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,377,961,000 after buying an additional 290,937 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $1,472,771,000 after acquiring an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $351,766,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 12,255 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Discover Financial Services stock opened at $162.91 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 12-month low of $119.31 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $184.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.