Forsta AP Fonden Grows Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $11,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 20,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on DFS shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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 report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.64.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.7 %

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $202.42 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $104.08 and a 1 year high of $205.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $180.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $50.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS 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 27.52%. On average, equities analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 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. 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 1.38%. The ex-dividend date 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.