Comerica Bank Trims Position in Capital One Financial Corporation $COF

Key Points

• Comerica Bank trimmed its stake in Capital One by 6.1% in Q4, selling 9,094 shares and leaving it with 140,301 shares valued at approximately $34.0 million.
• Insider selling accelerated recently—Neal Blinde sold 38,135 shares (avg $190.51) and, in total, insiders sold 50,047 shares worth $9.74 million in the last quarter, with insiders now owning about 0.78% of the company.
• Capital One missed quarterly EPS estimates ($4.42 vs. $5.08), its shares trade near $194, and analysts collectively rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target of $258.86.

Comerica Bank decreased its position in shares of Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 140,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,094 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Capital One Financial were worth $34,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COF. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Capital One Financial by 107.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,040,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $859,602,000 after buying an additional 2,097,208 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in Capital One Financial by 30.3% during the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 7,388,506 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,570,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,148 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Capital One Financial by 12.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,838,304 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,516,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,215 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Capital One Financial by 1,390.9% during the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 1,181,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $251,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,563 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Capital One Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $233,087,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.84% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Capital One Financial

In other news, insider Neal Blinde sold 38,135 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.51, for a total value of $7,265,098.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 33,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,391,801.01. This trade represents a 53.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Lia Dean sold 3,284 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.68, for a total transaction of $734,565.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 70,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,693,836.16. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,047 shares of company stock worth $9,742,217. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on COF. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Capital One Financial from $294.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Capital One Financial from $256.00 to $250.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Capital One Financial from $213.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Capital One Financial in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Capital One Financial from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $258.86.

Capital One Financial Stock Performance

Shares of COF stock opened at $194.22 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $191.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.79. Capital One Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $174.72 and a 52 week high of $259.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $120.79 billion, a PE ratio of 68.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.14.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $4.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.08 by ($0.66). Capital One Financial had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 10.59%. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.06 EPS. The business's revenue was up 52.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Capital One Financial Corporation will post 19.17 EPS for the current year.

Capital One Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 19th. Capital One Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.28%.

Capital One Financial Company Profile

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.

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