Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Price Target Increased to $123.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on DFS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $127.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $139.00 to $121.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $126.29.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $126.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.45. Discover Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $79.04 and a fifty-two week high of $131.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.34 and a 200-day moving average of $106.44.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($1.88). The business had revenue of $4.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.07 billion. Discover Financial Services had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 11.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John Greene sold 35,191 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,748,193.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DFS. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 2,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 335.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 63,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,171,000 after purchasing an additional 49,145 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Discover Financial Services by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 916,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,000,000 after purchasing an additional 16,532 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 121,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,685,000 after buying an additional 19,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 339,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,184,000 after buying an additional 72,452 shares during the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.