Private Trust Co. NA Boosts Stake in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC)

Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AGNC) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,216 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in AGNC Investment were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AGNC. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 21,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 18,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 10.0% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 0.6% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 222,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AGNC Investment by 4.2% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 34,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. 38.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AGNC Investment Price Performance

Shares of AGNC opened at $10.43 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.92. The company has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.48. AGNC Investment Corp. has a twelve month low of $8.92 and a twelve month high of $10.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.92% and a net margin of 29.26%. As a group, analysts predict that AGNC Investment Corp. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AGNC Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a feb 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 13.8%. AGNC Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 148.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AGNC Investment news, Director Frances Spark sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total value of $50,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 75,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,781.90. This trade represents a 6.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bernice Bell sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 372,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,737,149.04. This represents a 3.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AGNC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AGNC Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of AGNC Investment from $10.75 to $10.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AGNC Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of AGNC Investment from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

AGNC Investment 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).