KBC Group NV Boosts Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 924,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 147,558 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.37% of Discover Financial Services worth $160,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 9,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Invst LLC lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.2% in the third quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the third quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 27.4% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DFS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.57.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of DFS opened at $201.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $101.71 and a 1-year high of $204.93. The stock has a market cap of $50.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.68.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%. Equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.54%.

About Discover Financial Services

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.