Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 672 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 78.1% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $193.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 7.7 %

NYSE:DFS opened at $170.90 on Tuesday. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $119.31 and a 1 year high of $205.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $184.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $43.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.