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

Investment analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm set a "hold" rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on DFS. Barclays boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $117.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Discover Financial Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $133.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wolfe Research restated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $98.00 target price on shares of Discover Financial Services in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $125.22.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:DFS traded down $2.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $123.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,374,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,345,260. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $131.65. The company has a market capitalization of $30.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $119.93 and a 200 day moving average of $104.32. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.96). The business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 22.24% and a net margin of 14.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.77 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Discover Financial Services will post 11.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $106.51, for a total transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,233.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 127.4% in the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 16,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 9,382 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 8.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 33.8% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 27,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,038,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 5.2% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.