abrdn plc Has $15.81 Million Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

abrdn plc decreased its holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 91,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,347 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $15,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DFS. State Street Corp lifted its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,472,771,000 after buying an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,051,314,000 after acquiring an additional 558,227 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,391,000 after acquiring an additional 12,255 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,063,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,266,000 after purchasing an additional 4,594 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $233.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.64.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE DFS opened at $202.91 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $182.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.22. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $104.08 and a 52-week high of $205.76. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $50.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.46.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued 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 forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 13.39 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 given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.54%.

About Discover Financial Services

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.