abrdn plc Raises Holdings in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

abrdn plc grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 69.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 106,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,815 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $12,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 56.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,597,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $743,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102,119 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,686,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,652,000 after buying an additional 238,498 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,578,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,337,000 after buying an additional 20,333 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 30.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,233,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,473,000 after buying an additional 526,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 42.3% during the third quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 1,343,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,429,000 after buying an additional 399,209 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DFS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 19th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS stock opened at $125.68 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 1 year low of $79.04 and a 1 year high of $131.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $123.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.01. The firm has a market cap of $31.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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; private student loans, 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.