Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $2.34 Million Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DFS. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at $863,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 64,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,045,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.5% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 9,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.8% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 40.0% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of DFS stock opened at $196.14 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $184.37 and its 200-day moving average is $160.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $109.50 and a 52 week high of $205.76. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. Equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is 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.