Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $274.70.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on COF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Capital One Financial from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Capital One Financial from $263.00 to $256.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Capital One Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Capital One Financial from $308.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Capital One Financial from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th.

Capital One Financial Stock Performance

COF opened at $214.64 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $235.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $136.45 billion, a PE ratio of 72.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.14. Capital One Financial has a 1 year low of $143.22 and a 1 year high of $259.64.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $3.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.14 by ($0.28). Capital One Financial had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 3.54%.The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 53.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Capital One Financial will post 15.65 EPS for the current year.

Capital One Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Capital One Financial’s payout ratio is 108.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravi Raghu sold 13,450 shares of Capital One Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $3,362,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,584,250. The trade was a 30.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Matthew W. Cooper sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 92,486 shares in the company, valued at $23,121,500. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,274 shares of company stock worth $8,131,054. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Capital One Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Capital One Financial by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,897,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,789,615,000 after acquiring an additional 360,071 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Capital One Financial by 63.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,780,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,910,500,000 after purchasing an additional 10,776,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Capital One Financial by 64.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,008,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,970,628,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,328 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Capital One Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,476,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,023,795,000 after buying an additional 638,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Capital One Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $2,089,803,000. 89.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Capital One Financial

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) is a diversified bank holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. The company’s core businesses include credit card lending, consumer and commercial banking, and auto finance. Capital One issues a wide range of credit card products for consumers and small businesses, and it operates deposit and digital banking services aimed at retail customers and small to midsize enterprises.

Products and services include credit and charge cards, checking and savings accounts (including the online-focused Capital One 360 platform), auto loans, and commercial lending solutions.