Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) Shares Sold by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC cut its holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 101,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 12,287 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $1,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NLY. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,099,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $332,665,000 after acquiring an additional 109,655 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,400,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $360,296,000 after purchasing an additional 223,294 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,638,216 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $172,988,000 after purchasing an additional 241,465 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Annaly Capital Management by 238.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,198,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,124,000 after buying an additional 3,664,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 531.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,981,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,900,000 after buying an additional 3,350,435 shares during the period. 51.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NLY shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Argus upgraded Annaly Capital Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays initiated coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

Shares of NLY opened at $21.67 on Wednesday. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.67 and a 1-year high of $21.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.82. The stock has a market cap of $12.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.52.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 20.70%. On average, equities analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.00%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 163.52%.

About Annaly Capital Management

Annaly Capital Management, Inc, a diversified capital manager, engages in mortgage finance. The company invests in agency mortgage-backed securities collateralized by residential mortgages; non-agency residential whole loans and securitized products within the residential and commercial markets; mortgage servicing rights; agency commercial mortgage-backed securities; to-be-announced forward contracts; residential mortgage loans; and agency or private label credit risk transfer securities.