Advisors Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 351,332 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 98,265 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Annaly Capital Management worth $6,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,664,098 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,350,435 shares during the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1,730.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,792,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,032 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 5,113.5% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 788,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,427,000 after purchasing an additional 773,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter valued at $12,676,000. 51.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of NLY opened at $21.93 on Wednesday. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a one year low of $17.67 and a one year high of $22.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.99. The company has a market capitalization of $12.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.53.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 176.10%.

Annaly Capital Management 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.