California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 42.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 697,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 206,348 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $120,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Discover Financial Services by 4.5% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $500,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.1% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 43,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 57,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $158.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $39.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $119.31 and a one year high of $205.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $184.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.32. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 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, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.