Jefferies Financial Group Boosts Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target to $145.00

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $137.00 to $145.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 16.68% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $116.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (up previously from $117.00) on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.94.

Discover Financial Services Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of DFS opened at $124.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $79.04 and a 12 month high of $131.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $121.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 17.21% and a net margin of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Discover Financial Services news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DFS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $340,672,000. Boston Partners increased its position in 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 buying an additional 3,102,119 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 489.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,999,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660,180 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 239.6% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 2,027,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,430,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,927,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,042,000 after buying an additional 1,293,260 shares in the last quarter. 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.