Apollon Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DFS. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Discover Financial Services by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $214,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 6,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Invesco LLC bought a new position in Discover Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Aequim Alternative Investments LP purchased a new position in Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $9,832,000. 86.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DFS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Discover Financial Services from $152.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Discover Financial Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $148.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.81.

Discover Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of DFS opened at $176.07 on Friday. 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 cap of $44.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $147.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.91. Discover Financial Services has a 52 week low of $84.03 and a 52 week high of $188.26.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 21.38% and a net margin of 13.78%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.60%.

Discover Financial Services 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.