Wealthfront Advisers LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lowered its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 51.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 16,207 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 971,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,505,000 after purchasing an additional 40,781 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 213.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 56,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 38,361 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Annaly Capital Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $239,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 17,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 48,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 6,469 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NLY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.44.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

NLY stock opened at $21.85 on Tuesday. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.67 and a 1 year high of $22.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.97. The firm has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.