Annaly Capital Management Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NLY)

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 16,706 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 179% compared to the typical daily volume of 5,980 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Annaly Capital Management news, CEO David L. Finkelstein sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.05, for a total value of $1,002,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 612,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,280,003.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Annaly Capital Management

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 222.2% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 107.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,077 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of NLY opened at $20.72 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.35 and a beta of 1.52. Annaly Capital Management has a 52-week low of $14.52 and a 52-week high of $21.07.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $318.00 million. Annaly Capital Management had a positive return on equity of 15.24% and a negative net margin of 12.02%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.55%. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -268.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com cut Annaly Capital Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Compass Point upped their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $23.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Annaly Capital Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.14.

Annaly Capital Management Company Profile

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.