Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) Shares Sold by Quadrant Capital Group LLC

Quadrant Capital Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) by 42.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,035 shares during the quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $26,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NLY. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management during the fourth quarter worth about $127,397,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Annaly Capital Management by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,721,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,001,407,000 after acquiring an additional 5,859,104 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 238.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,198,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,124,000 after buying an additional 3,664,098 shares in the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1,730.0% during the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,792,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,453,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $172,706,000 after purchasing an additional 814,917 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NLY shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.29.

Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

NLY stock opened at $17.49 on Friday. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.60 and a 1-year high of $22.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.91. The firm has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.01%. 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 payout ratio is 176.10%.

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.