Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Capital One Financial Call Options (NYSE:COF)

Key Points

• Capital One call-option activity surged: Investors purchased 24,489 call options, roughly 150% above the typical volume of 9,800.
• Institutional investors remain heavily invested, owning approximately 89.84% of COF shares, while insiders have sold 33,850 shares worth about $7.2 million over the past three months.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook: COF has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $258.91, compared with a recent share price of $195.20. The company also exceeded quarterly earnings expectations and pays a $0.80 quarterly dividend.

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 24,489 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 150% compared to the typical volume of 9,800 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Capital One Financial

In related news, insider Ravi Raghu sold 9,726 shares of Capital One Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,523,087.84. This trade represents a 26.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lia Dean sold 2,066 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.07, for a total transaction of $425,740.62. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 61,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,610,453.65. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,850 shares of company stock valued at $7,208,382. Insiders own 0.78% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Capital One Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Capital One Financial by 32.3% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 118,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,685,000 after purchasing an additional 28,855 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Capital One Financial by 37.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 27,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,542,000 after buying an additional 7,503 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Capital One Financial by 43.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,274,188 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $456,248,000 after acquiring an additional 692,425 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Capital One Financial by 107.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 57,278,732 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,491,259,000 after acquiring an additional 29,724,829 shares during the period. Finally, Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new stake in Capital One Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.84% of the company's stock.

Capital One Financial Stock Performance

Capital One Financial stock traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $195.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,564,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,713,738. The company has a market capitalization of $119.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.02. Capital One Financial has a 12-month low of $174.24 and a 12-month high of $259.64. The company's fifty day moving average is $212.72 and its 200-day moving average is $198.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $5.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.79 by $1.02. The firm had revenue of $15.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.76 billion. Capital One Financial had a net margin of 13.37% and a return on equity of 11.28%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.48 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Capital One Financial will post 20.3 EPS for the current year.

Capital One Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Capital One Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Capital One Financial from $260.00 to $253.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Capital One Financial from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Capital One Financial in a report on Monday, June 29th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $254.00 target price for the company. Finally, HSBC upgraded Capital One Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $226.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $258.91.

About Capital One Financial

Capital One Financial Corporation NYSE: COF is a diversified financial services company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Founded in 1994, the company initially built its business as a credit card issuer and has since expanded into consumer banking, commercial banking and payments.

Capital One offers a range of credit card products for consumers and businesses, along with deposit accounts, savings products, auto loans and other consumer lending services. Through its commercial banking operations, the company provides financing, treasury management and related services to commercial real estate clients, middle-market companies and other businesses.

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

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.