Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target Raised to $145.00

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price objective upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $137.00 to $145.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Discover Financial Services from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Discover Financial Services stock opened at $126.69 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $131.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 10.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders 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 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is 31.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total value of $3,748,193.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,072,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,017,046,000 after purchasing an additional 475,579 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,686,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,652,000 after purchasing an additional 238,498 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,655,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $410,891,000 after purchasing an additional 217,475 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth about $322,199,000. Finally, Brave Warrior Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,968,000 after purchasing an additional 251,909 shares during the period. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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; 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.