Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Norges Bank bought a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $724,720,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $351,766,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,045,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,377,961,000 after purchasing an additional 290,937 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,067,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,489,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DFS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $262.00 to $219.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.40.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $175.81 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $119.31 and a fifty-two week high of $205.76. The firm has a market cap of $44.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $183.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.92.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 26.18%. Equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 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.