Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) Short Interest Update

Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,170,000 shares, a growth of 8.9% from the October 15th total of 10,260,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Capital One Financial

In other news, insider Michael Zamsky sold 10,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.26, for a total transaction of $2,005,530.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,465.32. This represents a 28.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Frank G. LapradeIii sold 15,751 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $2,520,160.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 44,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,153,760. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,007 shares of company stock valued at $4,982,647 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Capital One Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Capital One Financial by 72.8% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,128,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,145,761,000 after buying an additional 8,900,241 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Capital One Financial by 21.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,640,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $994,350,000 after buying an additional 1,169,395 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Capital One Financial in the second quarter worth about $127,465,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Capital One Financial by 268.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 975,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,052,000 after purchasing an additional 710,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Capital One Financial in the third quarter worth about $104,811,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Capital One Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of COF traded up $2.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $185.14. 4,122,382 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,819,630. Capital One Financial has a fifty-two week low of $104.21 and a fifty-two week high of $198.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.74 and a 200-day moving average of $146.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.43.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.81. Capital One Financial had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 9.00%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Capital One Financial will post 13.54 EPS for the current year.

Capital One Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Capital One Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COF. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Capital One Financial in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $163.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.35.

About Capital One Financial

Capital One Financial Corporation operates as the financial services holding company for the Capital One, National Association, which engages in the provision of various financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It operates through three segments: Credit Card, Consumer Banking, and Commercial Banking.