Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Argus from an “average” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, The Fly reports. The firm currently has a $90.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Argus’ price target points to a potential upside of 12.08% from the stock’s current price.
DFS has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank began coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $92.00 price target for the company. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised shares of Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.52.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) opened at $80.30 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $57.50 and a 52 week high of $81.25. The company has a market cap of $28,612.62, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.52.
In related news, EVP Carlos Minetti sold 8,000 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $533,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 173,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,575.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathryn Mcnamara Corley sold 4,000 shares of Discover Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.81, for a total transaction of $307,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,349,686.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 162,774 shares of company stock valued at $11,573,670 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,187,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $785,833,000 after buying an additional 538,244 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,578,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $657,867,000 after buying an additional 1,638,334 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 97.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,035,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $453,619,000 after buying an additional 3,475,126 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 84.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,904,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $380,703,000 after buying an additional 2,698,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,091,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $199,326,000 after buying an additional 444,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.72% of the company’s stock.
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Discover Financial Services Company Profile
Discover Financial Services (DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company. The Company is a bank holding company, as well as a financial holding company. The Company operates through two segments: Direct Banking and Payment Services. It provides direct banking products and services, and payment services through its subsidiaries.
