Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 10,316,999 Shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,316,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 10,316,999 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.41% of AGNC Investment worth $767,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in AGNC Investment by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 18,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in AGNC Investment by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in AGNC Investment by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,517 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 1,449 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AGNC Investment by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 33,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on shares of AGNC Investment in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus upgraded shares of AGNC Investment to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

AGNC Investment Stock Performance

AGNC stock opened at $9.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $10.14 and a 200-day moving average of $9.91. AGNC Investment Corp. has a 12-month low of $8.92 and a 12-month high of $10.85.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.05). AGNC Investment had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 21.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a yield of 14.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 148.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total transaction of $130,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 372,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of AGNC Investment stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

AGNC Investment Company Profile

AGNC Investment Corp., formerly American Capital Agency Corp., is a real estate investment trust. The Company invests in agency residential mortgage-backed securities on a leveraged basis. Its investments consist of residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a government-sponsored enterprise, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), or by the United States Government agency, such as the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) (collectively, GSEs).