Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Grows Holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 246,461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 27,810 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Annaly Capital Management were worth $4,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Annaly Capital Management in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 78.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Annaly Capital Management by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,598 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.07.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NLY traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $17.90. 6,901,621 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,947,366. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $20.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.84. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.60 and a 52-week high of $22.11.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. Annaly Capital Management had a net margin of 20.70% and a return on equity of 14.95%. Equities research analysts expect that Annaly Capital Management, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Annaly Capital Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is a boost from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 176.10%.

Annaly Capital Management Company 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.