Capital One Financial (COF: sentiment, chart, options) attracted some analyst attention today. Not only did the stock get smacked with a price-target cut from Barclays, brokerage firm Keefe Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage of the shares. Barclays lowered its price target on COF from $35 to $30 and reiterated its "equal weight" rating, while KBW started the stock with a "market perform" rating.

Traders aren't taking too kindly to today's lukewarm brokerage notes, as COF is down 7% at midday. Most analysts are crowded onto the security's bearish bandwagon, with Zacks reporting 10 "holds" and 4 "sell" or worse ratings, compared to just 2 "strong buys."

In the options pits, COF is attracting heavy put volume. The stock's January 2009 25 put has seen 1,986 contracts change hands, while the January 30 put has seen 1,344 contracts cross the tape.

Today's bearishly skewed option volume underscores the recent trend toward puts on COF. During the past 10 days, the equity has racked up a put/call volume ratio of 1.79 on the International Securities Exchange. With the stock trading close to multi-year lows, a continuation of this pessimistic trading activity could exacerbate COF's technical weakness.