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

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 128.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,529 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 439,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,693,000 after acquiring an additional 56,814 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,202,000 after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $282,000. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,415,000. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DFS shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock opened at $196.14 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $184.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.98. The company has a market capitalization of $49.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $109.50 and a 52-week high of $205.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. 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.