Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Cut to "Hold" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on DFS. UBS Group upgraded shares of Discover Financial Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised Discover Financial Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $186.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $180.57.

Discover Financial Services Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of DFS traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $201.59. 2,250,252 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,619,910. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $101.71 and a 12 month high of $204.93. The company has a market capitalization of $50.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46. The company's fifty day moving average price is $178.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%. Equities research analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Discover Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.54%.

Institutional Trading of Discover Financial Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DFS. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,498,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,472,771,000 after acquiring an additional 80,601 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Discover Financial Services by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,493,862 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,051,314,000 after purchasing an additional 558,227 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,834,705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $257,391,000 after purchasing an additional 12,255 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,728,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $242,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,751 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,063,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $149,266,000 after buying an additional 4,594 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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; 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.