Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) Raised to "Hold" at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets upgraded Capital One Financial to “Hold”, while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with 20 Buy ratings and five Holds and an average price target of $256.09.
• Capital One reported quarterly EPS of $5.81, beating the $4.79 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $15.83 billion, up 26.9% year over year.
• COF opened at $199.14, near its 200-day moving average of $199.65; insiders sold $7.17 million of stock over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 89.84% of shares.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) was upgraded by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $224.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Capital One Financial from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Capital One Financial from $253.00 to $242.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Evercore set a $220.00 target price on Capital One Financial in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Capital One Financial from $234.00 to $231.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $256.09.

Capital One Financial Trading Down 0.1%

COF stock opened at $199.14 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Capital One Financial has a 52-week low of $174.24 and a 52-week high of $259.64. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $210.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $199.65. The firm has a market cap of $122.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.04.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $5.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.79 by $1.02. The company had revenue of $15.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.76 billion. Capital One Financial had a return on equity of 11.28% and a net margin of 13.37%. Capital One Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Capital One Financial will post 20.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravi Raghu sold 9,726 shares of Capital One Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.78, for a total value of $2,040,320.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,523,087.84. The trade was a 26.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Celia Karam sold 2,017 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.07, for a total transaction of $415,643.19. Following the sale, the insider owned 57,696 shares in the company, valued at $11,889,414.72. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,850 shares of company stock worth $7,167,152. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Capital One Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COF. Sculptor Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Capital One Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,932,000. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Capital One Financial by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,865,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $340,363,000 after buying an additional 113,200 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Capital One Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $73,364,000. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its position in Capital One Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 179,757 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,793,000 after purchasing an additional 5,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Professional Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Capital One Financial by 645.8% during the 2nd quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 8,408 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.84% of the company's stock.

About Capital One Financial

Capital One Financial Corp. is a diversified financial services company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Founded in 1994, the company provides credit cards, consumer banking products, auto financing and commercial banking services through its Capital One brand.

Capital One offers credit cards for consumers and businesses, checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal loans and auto loans. Its commercial banking operations serve businesses, institutions and commercial real estate clients with lending, deposit, treasury management and other financial services.

Capital One primarily serves customers in the United States, with additional operations in Canada and the United Kingdom.

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