Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $16.52 Million Stock Holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY - Free Report) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 902,888 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 77,102 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.16% of Annaly Capital Management worth $16,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,721,696 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,001,407,000 after purchasing an additional 5,859,104 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,099,719 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $332,665,000 after buying an additional 109,655 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,400,024 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $360,296,000 after buying an additional 223,294 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 2.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,638,216 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $172,988,000 after acquiring an additional 241,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $127,397,000. 51.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on NLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $21.00 to $20.15 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays began coverage on Annaly Capital Management in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.29.

Annaly Capital Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NLY traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $17.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,137,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,862,839. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $20.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.91. Annaly Capital Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.60 and a 52 week high of $22.11. The company has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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%. 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 announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.81%. This is an increase from Annaly Capital Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Annaly Capital Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 176.10%.

Annaly Capital Management 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.