Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Capital One Financial Co. (NYSE:COF) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 634 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Capital One Financial were worth $13,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Capital One Financial by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,666,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,021,016,000 after buying an additional 131,400 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Capital One Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,991,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,965,761,000 after buying an additional 311,696 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Capital One Financial by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,227,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,603,316,000 after buying an additional 1,745,545 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Capital One Financial by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 7,751,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,016,317,000 after buying an additional 124,055 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Capital One Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $409,831,000. 89.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Capital One Financial from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $189.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Capital One Financial from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Capital One Financial from $155.00 to $154.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Capital One Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $159.00 target price on shares of Capital One Financial in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

Capital One Financial Stock Performance

NYSE COF traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $139.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 632,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,514,309. Capital One Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $88.23 and a 12 month high of $149.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.19. The company has a market cap of $53.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.25 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.35 billion. Capital One Financial had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 10.19%. Capital One Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Capital One Financial Co. will post 13.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Capital One Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Capital One Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Capital One Financial

In related news, insider Timothy P. Golden sold 8,656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.04, for a total transaction of $1,246,810.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,475,833.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Celia Karam sold 16,913 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.88, for a total value of $2,416,529.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,081 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,726,933.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy P. Golden sold 8,656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.04, for a total value of $1,246,810.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,246 shares in the company, valued at $1,475,833.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Capital One Financial Company Profile

Capital One Financial Corporation operates as the financial services holding company for the Capital One, National Association, which engages in the provision of various financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It operates through three segments: Credit Card, Consumer Banking, and Commercial Banking.