Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target Raised to $185.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $160.00 to $185.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.36.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE DFS opened at $176.06 on Friday. Discover Financial Services has a 52-week low of $96.46 and a 52-week high of $188.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $172.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.82.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 21.38%. The company had revenue of $5.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Discover Financial Services will post 13.43 EPS for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Discover Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 58,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,709 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 21,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,811,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 348.2% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 2.1% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 92,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,119,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 29.9% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 169,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,113,000 after purchasing an additional 38,916 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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; 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.