Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Has $1.44 Million Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lowered its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 342 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. AXA S.A. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 141.5% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 6,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 1.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 63,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,366,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.6% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $476,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 69,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,097,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on DFS. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on 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. Truist Financial raised their price target on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.64.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS opened at $201.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $50.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $104.08 and a 12 month high of $204.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.83.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.54%.

Discover Financial Services Company 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.