Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 1,017 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,017 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,072,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,046,000 after purchasing an additional 475,579 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,655,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,891,000 after purchasing an additional 217,475 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $322,199,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,968,000 after buying an additional 251,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 60.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,122,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $238,605,000 after buying an additional 803,738 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS stock traded up $0.11 on Monday, reaching $142.40. The stock had a trading volume of 199,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,813,789. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $147.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.43.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.53% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on DFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.33.

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; private student loans, 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.