Lazard Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Capital One Financial Corporation $COF

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE:COF) by 21.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,661 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Capital One Financial were worth $4,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COF. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Capital One Financial by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,897,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,789,615,000 after buying an additional 360,071 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Capital One Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,476,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,023,795,000 after buying an additional 638,158 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Capital One Financial by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,677,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,103,196,000 after buying an additional 323,350 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Capital One Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,089,803,000. Finally, Davis Selected Advisers lifted its stake in Capital One Financial by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 8,614,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,087,878,000 after acquiring an additional 234,649 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Capital One Financial from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Capital One Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Capital One Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Capital One Financial from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Evercore cut their price target on Capital One Financial from $265.00 to $222.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Capital One Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Timothy P. Golden sold 3,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.00, for a total transaction of $735,757.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,567,519. This represents a 31.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Matthew W. Cooper sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.00, for a total transaction of $728,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 90,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,760,352. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 10,487 shares of company stock valued at $2,107,512 in the last ninety days. 0.78% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Capital One Financial Trading Down 0.6%

Capital One Financial stock opened at $208.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $128.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.02. Capital One Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $174.24 and a 12 month high of $259.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $199.02. 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) 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. Capital One Financial had a net margin of 13.37% and a return on equity of 11.28%. The firm had revenue of $15.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.48 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Capital One Financial Corporation will post 20.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Capital One Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Capital One Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.80%.

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.