Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,570,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the June 30th total of 9,370,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Insider Transactions at Capital One Financial

In other Capital One Financial news, insider Celia Karam sold 16,913 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.88, for a total transaction of $2,416,529.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,726,933.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Robert M. Alexander sold 30,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $4,611,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 73,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,060,100. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Celia Karam sold 16,913 shares of Capital One Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.88, for a total transaction of $2,416,529.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,726,933.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Capital One Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COF. Silicon Valley Capital Partners bought a new stake in shares of Capital One Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Capital One Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its stake in shares of Capital One Financial by 1,658.3% in the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Capital One Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Capital One Financial by 726.7% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on COF shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Capital One Financial from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Capital One Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Capital One Financial in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Capital One Financial from $155.00 to $154.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.89.

Capital One Financial Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE:COF traded down $7.50 on Thursday, reaching $143.90. 3,245,944 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,546,265. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Capital One Financial has a 52 week low of $88.23 and a 52 week high of $153.35.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.28 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.57 billion. Capital One Financial had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 9.01%. Capital One Financial’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Capital One Financial will post 13.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Capital One Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Capital One Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.79%.

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.