Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 171 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DFS. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $351,766,000. FMR LLC raised 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 buying an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,377,961,000 after buying an additional 290,937 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $39,067,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,489,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $166.29 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a 1-year low of $119.31 and a 1-year high of $205.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $185.41 and a 200-day moving average of $169.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $41.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 17.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DFS. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.40.

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.