Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 67,337 Shares of Annaly Capital Management Inc $NLY

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Annaly Capital Management Inc (NYSE:NLY) by 49.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 204,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,337 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $4,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Annaly Capital Management by 111.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 56,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,154,000 after buying an additional 29,978 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 14,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 541,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,003,000 after acquiring an additional 80,481 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 833.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,920,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,607,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.56% of the company’s stock.

Annaly Capital Management Trading Down 1.7%

Annaly Capital Management stock opened at $23.02 on Friday. Annaly Capital Management Inc has a 1 year low of $19.70 and a 1 year high of $24.52. The company has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 7.78, a PEG ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.46.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 34.33% and a return on equity of 15.92%. The firm had revenue of $341.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $595.27 million. Research analysts forecast that Annaly Capital Management Inc will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Annaly Capital Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Annaly Capital Management’s payout ratio is 101.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NLY has been the topic of a number of research reports. JonesTrading restated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $22.50) on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.67.

Annaly Capital Management Profile

Annaly Capital Management, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in generating income through investment in mortgage-related assets. The company’s core business activities include the acquisition, financing, and management of a diversified portfolio of agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and other real estate debt instruments. Annaly seeks to profit from the spread between the interest earned on its mortgage investments and its cost of funds, as well as from capital gains realized through active portfolio management.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York City, Annaly has grown to become one of the largest mortgage REITs in the United States.