Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) Stock

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $185.00 to $214.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.53% from the stock’s previous close.

DFS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. UBS Group upgraded Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Discover Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $233.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $186.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Discover Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.43.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DFS opened at $200.89 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $50.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.46. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $99.79 and a 12 month high of $204.93.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 27.52% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Discover Financial Services

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 58.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 92,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,096,000 after buying an additional 34,226 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 61.0% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 48,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,288,000 after acquiring an additional 18,215 shares during the period. AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 141.5% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 6,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 171,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its position in Discover Financial Services by 588.8% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 17,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,231 shares in the last quarter. 86.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.