Chase Investment Counsel Corp Has $1.03 Million Stock Position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp boosted its position in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $1,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 3.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 97,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,417,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 13,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 50,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Busey Trust CO grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the third quarter. Busey Trust CO now owns 98,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,496,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 29.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 465,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,287,000 after purchasing an additional 106,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on DFS. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

DFS traded down $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $127.68. 268,763 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,178,981. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $123.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.50. The company has a market capitalization of $31.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

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; 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.