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

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

Capital One Financial Stock Performance

NYSE COF opened at $196.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $212.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.61. Capital One Financial has a 52-week low of $174.24 and a 52-week high of $259.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.02.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last released 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. Capital One Financial had a net margin of 13.37% and a return on equity of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $15.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Capital One Financial will post 20.3 EPS for the current year.

Capital One Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Capital One Financial from $215.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Capital One Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Capital One Financial from $310.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Capital One Financial from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, HSBC raised Capital One Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Capital One Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Matthew Cooper sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $749,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 83,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,811,835.40. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael Zamsky sold 5,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.02, for a total value of $1,193,223.46. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,102,815.84. The trade was a 16.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 33,850 shares of company stock worth $7,208,382 in the last three months. 0.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Capital One Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COF. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Capital One Financial by 529.4% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Capital One Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Capital One Financial by 1,312.5% in the 4th quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Capital One Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Capital One Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Capital One Financial Company Profile

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.