Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a report released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

DFS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research restated a peer perform rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $140.00 to $111.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $125.22.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DFS opened at $124.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $31.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $121.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.66. 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 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The firm had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 14.30% and a return on equity of 22.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Discover Financial Services

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 7.9% during the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 335.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,171,000 after purchasing an additional 49,145 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000,000 after purchasing an additional 16,532 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,685,000 after purchasing an additional 19,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 339,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,184,000 after purchasing an additional 72,452 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.