StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research note issued on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (up from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.22.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

NYSE:DFS opened at $119.93 on Thursday. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $131.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $121.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.45.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.03 by ($1.93). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.24% and a net margin of 14.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,233.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,072,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,046,000 after buying an additional 475,579 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 purchasing an additional 238,498 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,927,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $482,042,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,260 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 6.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth about $340,672,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

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.