Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $2.72 Million Stock Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 5.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,073 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $2,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.2% in the third quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 2,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Discover Financial Services by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.57.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $176.00 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $143.65. The company has a market capitalization of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.08. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $96.46 and a 52-week high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

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.