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

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 249,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,381 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $43,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $5,377,961,000 after buying an additional 290,937 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,472,771,000 after purchasing an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the third 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 acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at $351,766,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in 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. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DFS shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $162.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $184.97 and a 200-day moving average of $169.58. 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 has a twelve month low of $119.31 and a twelve month high of $205.76. The firm has a market cap of $40.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio 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.