King Luther Capital Management Corp Acquires 215 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 215 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $6,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $838,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $289,000. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 91.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 200,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,784,000 after buying an additional 95,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 28,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,885,000 after buying an additional 1,545 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DFS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.91.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $157.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $39.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $188.41 and its 200 day moving average is $167.69. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $119.31 and a 52 week high of $205.76.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.