Apollon Wealth Management LLC Sells 582 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 582 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 506.5% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Discover Financial Services by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Discover Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 86.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on DFS. UBS Group raised Discover Financial Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $239.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $146.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $170.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Discover Financial Services from $185.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Discover Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.46.

Discover Financial Services Trading Down 3.3 %

NYSE DFS opened at $188.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.97. Discover Financial Services has a 12 month low of $107.10 and a 12 month high of $205.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by $1.98. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 26.18% and a net margin of 17.29%. On average, analysts predict that Discover Financial Services will post 13.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.54%.

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.